Support for merger under right conditions

I’m fairly certain that the ‘100 disgruntled householders’ do not want to "fight the school merger", rather they would support the build if certain conditions were met.

Let's also get some other facts straight. While "just 300 yards currently divide the two schools",  that is as the crow flies up a steep banking and through a protected wood.

Oh, and the Infant school is in sad need of major repair. The trees to be felled have undergone scrutiny by an arborialist and will be replanted after safe access has been achieved for the build traffic by keeping the students apart from the ongoing work.#

Agreed, the traffic numbers may increase and a solution needs to be sought to mitigate this. This could be tied into the solution to reduce weekend parking across the road from the Maltby Academy (not Comprehensive) Sports Ground.

There are very few weekends when the Lilly Hall ground is used. Sports England have yet to understand the nuances of the development, however, if as suggested by the residents that the school extends to the other side of the current building, playing areas nearer to their boundary would lead to as much noise as the Foundation children play area.

At least the noise barrier currently being investigated will focus on the perceived problem.

What is sad is that when the joint school was being proposed as part of the Campus in the Academy grounds the residents were horrified that the Local Authority might eventually sell the Lilly Hall grounds off to housing developers – we can’t win.

We need a through school with all its benefits and that can be brought about by adding an Infants block and improving the existing Junior school to make Lilly Hall a first class Primary unit.

Let's all agree on that aim and work together to get the best out of the development while understanding there are limitations to space and access.

David Taylor, Chair of Governors, Lilly Hall.