New £50m school in Walsall a ‘money grabbing exercise’ says agent
A planning agent in Walsall has described new free school plans as a "money-grabbing exercise with no regard for huge levels of environmental damage".
Robin Whitehouse, director of Goldfinch Town Planning Services, said the proposal to remove woodland at Reedswood Park for the 1,000-space school will destroy natural habitat and goes against Walsall Council’s climate change commitments.
He also accused the authority of working to a ‘two-tier planning system’ where the more affluent east side of the borough is awarded further protections against unsuitable development compared to the west.
Walsall Council is currently going through a Regulation 18 stage of developing the new local borough plan.
It’s a draft blueprint for prospective builders and investors hoping to carry out large developments across the borough.
Mr Whitehouse told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he wanted to ensure his representation for the plan is not "buried away".
In the draft local plan, woodland at Reedswood Park has already been earmarked for a new free school funded by £50m of government money from the Department for Education.
But Walsall Council has allocated the same site for up to 94 homes.
Mr Whitehouse, who lives in Walsall, said he wanted Walsall Council to be "honest with residents".
He said: “The scale and severity of the school or housing development proposals on the environment would be severe, enormous and considerable.
“There is absolutely no point in Walsall Council declaring a climate change emergency and taking forward a climate change action plan if it has absolutely no intention whatsoever to promote sustainable patterns of new development.
“Reedswood Park contains important bat roosts, excellent bat foraging habitat, and also provides habitats for small hole nesting woodland bird species.
“The school development proposal for Reedswood Park appears to be little more than an empire-building and vanity project being led by a small group of Walsall councillors with strong levels of influence.”
The DfE carried out a feasibility test in 2024 which saw swathes of woodland cleared and left the beauty spot inaccessible from the canal towpath.
Robin said: “The woodland clearance was grossly disproportionate and was done to reduce the quality of the site, affording it less protection just to try and get planning permission.
“It’s the kind of behaviour an unscrupulous housing developer gets up to, not public bodies.
“Walsall Council continues to display poor leadership, poor quality decision-making approaches, poor governance and poor judgement.”
Councillor Mark Statham, portfolio holder for children's, education and lifelong learning at Walsall Council, said: “Walsall has been chosen as one of 16 locations in England to receive a new free school which will bring £50 million pound of central government funding into the borough, and additional associated social value in terms of jobs, apprenticeships, and further expenditure in the local economy.
“The proposed school will provide around 1,000 additional places for local children, including a sixth form provision and 24 SEND [special educational needs and disabilities] high needs places.
“Following a detailed study carried out in autumn 2023, the Department for Education has proposed the school is built on the former Reedswood golf course site, which is council-owned land situated next to Reedswood Park.
“We must meet our statutory duty to provide all Walsall children a school place in line with our sufficiency planning, and the new school will not only help us meet long-term demand for school places but is an active step forward in the We Are Walsall 2040 plan for the borough too.
“We want all children, irrespective of background or ability, to have access to a high-quality education and to lead fun, safe and healthy lives.”
