Asbestos schools face bulldozers in £35m Grange rebuild plan in Runcorn

Sep 20 2012 by Daniel Mckenzie, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

ASBESTOS-RIDDLED school blocks could be demolished so the land can be sold in Runcorn.

The Grange nursery and junior and infant units have been earmarked for clearance to avoid the risks associated with empty buildings in urban areas.

The blocks will no longer be needed when work to expand The Grange School, which will cater for ages three-16 under one roof, is complete.

Halton Borough Council has estimated that the sale of the land will reap £1.2m to contribute to the main building project.

Flattening the junior, infant and nursery sites will cost is expected to cost about £150,000, not including asbestos-removal fees.

Halton Council’s executive board meets tonight to decide whether to give the project the green light.

The Grange School, on Latham Avenue, has been earmarked £35m under the Building Schools For The Future programme.

The cash is in the form of controversial private finance initiative (PFI) credits – a kind of loan for large public sector projects.

Once cleared, the land will probably be used to build homes on.

A report published ahead of this evening’s session said: “The sites were valued in 2010 as part of the BSF proposals, the value being put on them at that time being £1.2m, this being based on an assumption that they could be sold for residential purposes, this amount was thus allocated to the BSF proposal.”

It added: “On completion of the new school the existing nursery, infant and junior school buildings will become vacant and thus present an ongoing risk to the council.

“The risk is in terms of both the buildings being acquired for alternative school provision and the ongoing health an safety risk that vacant buildings present. In response to this risk it is recommended that the buildings are demolished as soon as possible.”