New Secondary School for Grove Under Threat

News announcements from the County Council came yesterday about potential spending cuts to the capital programme, and we hear that Grove's new secondary school is now under threat. I was interviewed for BBC South Today and was on the television last night, and again this morning for BBC Radio Oxford's breakfast programme. The story is also in the local press and on the BBC Oxford website.

Residents of Grove understand only too well how Grove's housing developments have been built in the past with no infrastructure, and as a local councillor I have fought to try to ensure this does not happen again. With the prospect of more housing on the airfield after Grove was singled out in the local plan, it is vital that any development brings with it the necessary infrastructure which is badly needed. This applies to roads, leisure facilities and schooling provision. The issue of Grove having its own secondary school has been in the limelight many times, and more recently Oxfordshire County Council's cabinet decided that Grove's new secondary school would have its own sixth form, and not just a small 600-place school as originally intended.

Now all capital projects are on hold as the state of national government finances get played out locally. Big spending projects whether it is school extensions, libraries or indeed some transport schemes could potentially now be on hold. I will keep an eye on this over the forthcoming weeks as more detail on the plans become known!