The Parish Council has recently put together a lottery bid under the 'Parks for People' initiative to refurbish Stafford Orchard and the surrounding area. This includes a proposal to acquire and bring back into use the Old Primary School on School Lane as a community building. The former school, built in 1834, is currently owned by Leicestershire County Council (LCC).
The LCC have offered to sell the Old School to the Parish Council for £300,000, provided that the sale is agreed before March 2007. The LCC is saying that it needs the money to fund its 2007/08 spending programme and is not willing to accept that 'best value' for the building is anything other than the highest price it can get in the market place. The Parish Council cannot possibly meet either the price or the timescale, since a final decision on our Lottery application will not be made by the 'Parks for People' Fund for two years. The LCC is not prepared to wait and a planning application for redevelopment of the site (including the possibility of demolishing the building) is likely to be submitted to Charnwood Borough Council. The old school was given to the LCC in exchange for the building of the present St Bartholomew’s school, but because of the expansion of housing in Quorn a new school would have had to be built anyway. It is not reasonable that the LCC should now offer the building back to the community, only if they can make a substantial profit, particularly as they have spent little on maintaining it.
The Parish Council is determined to oppose any application to demolish this historic building in the Conservation Area for housing, or its conversion to flats. If you feel as strongly about this as we do, please get in touch with the parish clerk on 412915 or email, who will tell you how best to make your protest. Enough opposition will make a difference - remember Caves Field?
