Schools chief wants an end to building delay

As previously reported, Bury Council plans to close Radcliffe Riverside High School and open a new Derby High School in Radcliffe.

Ed Balls has corresponded with council leader Bob Bibby since he met a delegation from Radcliffe Riverside earlier this year.

His most recent letter expressed concern that a new school has not been built in Radcliffe, despite the council receiving a targeted capital grant from the Government in 2004.

Mr Balls wrote: “The allocation was provided on a strong expectation that, along with capital receipts and the then capital programme, this would enable Bury MBC to begin immediately building the new school. It therefore remains of concern to the department that, five years on, the school has not been built.”

He added: “In order to move this project forward, I recognise that the council will need to weigh up carefully its options for realising the value of its assets in the current economic conditions against the benefit of making progress for the benefit of its pupils. I urge you to give this the most urgent consideration.”

In his reply, Cllr Bibby blamed the previous Labour-controlled administration for the delays and failure to complete the sale of Radcliffe Riverside’s existing sites in Spring Lane and Abden Street.

He said the money from the Government had been used to buy the former East Lancashire Paper Mill site in Radcliffe, where the new Derby High will be built as part of Building Schools For The Future (BSF).

He wrote: “We believe we have made the right decision to want to relocate the Derby High School to Radcliffe and feel that the type of structural solution we are implementing in respect of an unpopular school is just the response that your Government is promoting.

“We are now moving forward in developing a support plan for Radcliffe Riverside as it moves towards closure and in preparing our readiness to deliver for our BSF phase one project, which includes the new school in Radcliffe.”