Archway miss out on upgrade cash (From Stroud News and Journal)

Archway miss out on upgrade cash

THERE was disappointment for Archway School this week as an ambitious plan to replace the worn out buildings with a brand new development was halted by lack of funding.

Archway, along with Cleeve School in Bishops Cleeve and Rednock School in Dursley, are at the top of the county council's list for urgent investment.

Gloucestershire County Council was hoping that the Government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI) would fund replacements for the three schools.

But the Government confirmed last Tuesday that there was currently no money available under the initiative for the council's plans.

In November 2001 the county council submitted a bid under the PFI scheme for the £55 million needed.

The plan was to find a private sector partner who would design, build and operate three new replacement secondary schools under a long-term contract with the council.

Last week the Government announced £939 million PFI funding, but with bids totalling £3.2 billion from around the country, Gloucestershire was among the counties to lose out.

Cllr Liz Boait, portfolio holder for corporate resource and management said: "This is very, very disappointing, especially receiving the bad news at the start of the Easter holidays when it is too late for most of the schools to be in a position to comment.

"We hoped to have the new facilities up and running by September 2005 but we will now need to consider whether there will be future opportunities to bid for PFI funding or whether a phased replacement of the poorest buildings should take place over a longer period of time.

"All the schools involved are very disappointed but they know they are among our top priorities and that we will continue to plan to improve their buildings."