The new school project at Newton St Cyres is under threat, due to an issue with the planning application. The issue revolves around the junction with Station Road on the A377 at Newton St Cyres, if traffic improvements are not approved then work on the new school will not go ahead. 

The current Newton St Cyres Primary school is situated at the brow of the hill in Newton St Cyres on the busy A377.  As you can imagine this creates difficulties with both drop off and collection, as well as child safety concerns caused by a busy main road right outside the gate.  The school buildings themselves are outdated and badly in need of repair, indeed three of the four classrooms are temporary buildings that have long surpassed their intended life-span.  As well as concerns such as asbestos and decaying buildings, this prevents us from moving towards a more eco-friendly school due to inferior insulation and building design.

Below is a letter from Exe Valley Federation Executive Head Mr John Jollife detailing the issues further.  Please lend us your support and allow us to improve our pupil's education on a modern and fit for purpose site.

Dear citizens of Mid Devon

I am writing to you all today to give you an update on the progress of the new school building programme. As you know, we have been working with the Education Funding Authority [EFA], the architects and developers to bring to fruition the plans for the new school on Station Road. Alongside the school building project, Kingswood Homes are planning to build a small estate of houses close to the new school and we have also been working with them to co-ordinate the whole development. Their team has been very supportive of the school plan and are committed to working with us to make sure both aspects of the development are completed on time and to budget. However we found out yesterday there has been a setback and we need your help to make sure that we can build the new school as we planned.

 The setback centres around the amount of traffic that will be generated by the new school. Under the rules for development, Kingsway Homes are responsible for making changes to the junction of Station Road and the A377 to make it safer for cars turning off the main road towards the new school. Their plans for a traffic management system and improvements to visibility for car drivers have been approved by the Parish Council but were not passed by Mid Devon District Council at their recent meeting.

 We are committed to making the new school as environmentally sustainable as possible and to minimising the number of cars using Station Road. We now need to be able to show exactly how many families would be willing to come to the new school on foot, by walking, scooting or cycling. In addition to this we are keen to offer a walking bus from the village hall car park to the new school. This would enable parents to park there rather than coming into Station Road and the school car park and turning circle. We are also keen to offer a breakfast club in the mornings, so that parents could drop off children earlier in the morning as well as maintaining after school clubs and childcare provision. All these proposals would enable us to assure the planning committee that the proposed road improvement scheme will make the junction safer for everyone and that there will not be large numbers of cars turning off the A377 into Station Road.

We need your help to show how much support there is in the community for the new school and for safe travel to school. Without the road safety scheme being agreed, there is a real danger that a significant delay to the project will mean that it is cancelled and we will not have a new school.

 If you are able to write to the planning officer or come to the meeting on Monday 26th September at 12.00 at Phoenix House in Tiverton to show your support for the new school, that would be very much appreciated.

With best wishes,

John Jolliffe, Executive Headteacher