For many years we have had students at Saddleworth school who were promised a new school and yet are now well on into adulthood. Other school proposals have come and been built yet in Saddleworth we have a generation who have missed out.
For too long the wishes of the school and the children have been ignored.
We praise the work done by Saddleworth parents and children amongst many others who want the school built. The Liberal Democrats have always unanimously supported a new school wherever the Education Funding Agency saw was appropriate. We wanted a new school and have been open about this. We along with others have been abused at times for our position on the school. Having different views is fine but threats and abuse over someone’s views is never ok.
It has been quite clear that the council have not always handled this process well and the communication lapses made the situation so much worse. The planning officers and other council officials need to be commended for their work on the recent application.
There have been an array of sites considered over the last 7 years or so and for quite some time it has been clear that Diggle has been the one that is deliverable.
This has been a difficult and divisive time for Saddleworth. We now urge everyone to get behind this decision and ensure that we get a school the children deserve.