This page will provide the information that the Forum has about the redevelopment of the Wheelers Lane Schools Campus. If you know something that should be shared please contact the Forum.

Wheelers Lane Schools Redevelopment : Planning Application Granted Planning permission has been granted subject to 24 conditions. You can download scanned images of the 5 pages of conditions using the links below. Note these files are about 1mb each, so take a few minutes each on a dial up connection. Page 1 :  Page 2 : Page 3 : Page 4 : Page 5

Wheelers Lane Schools Redevelopment : New Planning Application : dated 20th September 2005 A revised planning application has been made. The Application Number is S/0327/05/FUL. It includes changes to the elevations, boundary & access. You can see the plans at the Planning service at 9th Floor, Alpha Tower, Suffolk Street Queensway, tel: 303-1115 or at the Kings Heath Neighbourhood Office  at 38 Silver Street, tel:303-5009 (ring first to make sure they will be open when you want to go). The deadline for comments is 4th October, so if you want your voice heard respond by then.

THE FORUM'S RESPONSE TO THE PLANNING APPLICATION You can download a copy of the Forum's comments on the planning application HERE

PUBLIC MEETING 9th JUNE A Forum sponsored Public Meeting on the development took place on 9th June. The Forum will be making comments to the Planning service based on the views expressed at the meeting. The Forum has also obtained the opinion of an architect with much experience of the design of educational buildings. If you have concerns about the development, you should write or email to the Planning service (see below for details) even if the Forum has covered the points you wish to make. The more people who make comments, the more weight they will carry. You may also wish to contact local councillors. Use this link to track down your councillor:- http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=6118&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=5185&EXPAND=581

PLANNING APPLICATION DETAILS The Planning Application for the development has been made. Details are:- Application Number is: S/0327/05/FUL.  Site: Wheelers Lane Primary School, Wheelers Lane Technology School, Kings Heath  Comments to be made by 30th June 2005 to: Director of Planning & Regeneration Planning Alpha Tower Suffolk Street Queensway Birmingham B1 1TU or by email to planning.enquiries@birmingham.gov.uk  Plans and details can be seen at the Planning Reception desk in Alpha Tower (tel : 303 1115) or at Kings Heath Neighbourhood Office, Silver Street (next to LIDL) (tel: 303 5009)

At the Public Meeting on 13th April 2005 - Birmingham Councils Peter Farrell asked that any questions or comments about the project be directed to the schools or to the Councils PFI Project manager Lesley Jamieson.  Email contact details are: Wheelers Lane Technology College website.      Email Wheelers Lane Primary School website.            Email Lesley Jamison

Residents Questions Arising From the  Birmingham Council Public Meeting 13th April 2005 The following questions were sent to Birmingham Council, following the meeting. The answers are in red. You can download a complete set of questions and answers in PDF format here. PLANNING Permission When will planning permission be applied for? Likely to be by end of April 2005  CONTRACT DURATION & WORKING DAYS/HOURS What is the planned start and duration of the contract? The current plan is still in development and the exact dates are still to be determined.  However the principle is to split the scheme into 3 main phases.    Pre-Construction Works: Sept 05 to Nov 05 Phase 1 (New Technology School) Dec 05 to Jan 07 Phase 2 (New Primary School) Feb 07 to Feb 08 Phase 3 (New Sports Hall) Feb 08 to Sept 08 Please note that a significant amount of the work (probably about 10-20%) involves the installation of temporary classrooms, the demolition of the existing properties and the decanting of the schools rather than ‘construction’ work. a)      What are normal working days? Monday to Friday 8.00am – 5.30pm, Saturday morning 8.00am –1.00pm b)      What are normal working hours? See above c)      What work will take place at weekends and in evenings? Minimal work will take place in the evenings or weekends (except Saturday morning). Work outside these hours will be limited to activities such as casting concrete floors (due to the setting time) and specialist large deliveries. Notice will be given to local residents when these are due to occur. See details in the traffic section regarding deliveries.  TRAFFIC Which of the following roads will be used for demolition/construction traffic Unfortunately the site is landlocked and therefore access does need to be gained via the roads surrounding the site. We are currently developing the traffic plan in conjunction with the schools and the highways dept and are considering issues such as: -         Safety to pupils, residents and the workforce.   -         Minimising disruption to schools and the local community -         Maintaining car parking for local residents and schools  -         Transportation of the workforce to site To this end we are looking to: -         Restrict deliveries to outside of school drop off and collection times. -         Segregate school and construction entrances -         Ensure that deliveries using larger vehicles are restricted and where necessary are carefully co-ordinated to minimise disruption  -       Encourage subcontractors to use minibuses to transport staff to the site.  The current proposal for construction/demolition traffic on each road is as follows:   a)    Middleton Road, This will be used for deliveries by cars, vans and possibly rigid vehicles on phase 1 of the scheme. However articulated vehicles will go through the Technology college entrance on Wheelers Lane out of schools hours. This phase is approximately 60 weeks long. b)    Albert Road This road is unlikely to be used except for maybe carrying out external works on the site and demolition to buildings local to that entrance.  Duration: probably not used but 4 weeks at most. c)    Bagnell Road + Portman Rd This will be used for deliveries on phase 3 of the construction works which lasts approximately 30 weeks and d)   During what period of the contract duration will each be   used?  See earlier notes e)   What days of the week & working hours will they be used? Deliveries will generally be made during site opening hours but avoiding school pick up and drop off times. Deliveries by larger vehicles going through the ‘live’ school premises off Wheelers Lane will occur outside of school hours or in the holidays. Specialist large deliveries such as structural steel may therefore occur first thing in the morning or in the evening. The precise timings of these deliveries will be carefully managed to minimise noise and disruption. f)    What parking restrictions on residents will be imposed? This has not yet been finalised. It is hoped this can be kept to an absolute minimum and we would look to closely liase with residents to agree a mutually acceptable solution.  DEMOLITION & CONSTRUCTION How will dust smoke road-mud and noise be managed? Regular dampening down of the site roads etc using water bowsers, hoses and the like will keep dust and dust smoke to a minimum. Mud on roads will be managed using either a site based wheel wash or a road sweeper. Noise will be minimised by avoiding activities such a pneumatic drilling whereever possible. Where noise is unavoidable these activities will be restricted to less sensitive hours of the day where possible. Is there asbestos removal involved in demolition? Asbestos surveys have yet to be carried out. However it is highly likely that asbestos will be found.  Removal will take place by fully licensed specialists. Specialists such as these carry out asbestos removal everyday on city sites in line with very strict guidelines. Associated risks to both the workforce, pupils, staff and residents are therefore extremely low. PROBLEM/COMPLAINT HANDLING Who should be contacted regarding issues of design/layout/access? In the first instance contact either the Education dept at the council or the schools who will pass the details onto the appropriate person. Obviously the planning dept can also be contacted once a planning application has been made. Who should be told about problems/complaints arising from site works The project manager (or the local liaison officer) should be contacted in the first instance. Details will be provided when the individuals are appointed. How will residents be told who to contact? The Schools and Kings Heath Forum will be contacted with the details. There will also be a site noticeboard displaying the information. Leaflets will also be distributed to specific residents regarding deliveries etc during the works to keep everyone informed as much as possible. When will residents be told who to contact? We will attempt to keep the schools and Kings Heath Forum informed of developments and contact details on an ongoing basis via the methods identified above. The construction contacts will be identified probably 1-2 months before the start of the work SCHOOL ACCESS  When the school is open… Which parts of the school will be serviced by a)     Bagnell Road Pedestrian entrance to both schools and staff parking for the Technology College only. Visitors parking for the Technology College will be via Wheelers Lane entrance as will the Staff and Visitors parking for the Primary School. b)     Middleton Road Pedestrian entrance to Technology and deliveries to Technology College kitchen c)      Albert Road. No access by foot or vehicle What sort of traffic will this generate? The new schools remain the same size as the old ones and so we do not envisage their being anymore traffic than currently exists. However as the primary school will be at the front of the site adjacent Wheelers Lane entrance, vehicular traffic servicing this school may transfer from Bagnell Road to Wheelers Lane. WHEELERS LANE FLOODING Parts of Wheelers Lane are low-lying and flood into houses. Local drains are prone to silting. Given the likelihood that demolition/construction will create lots of road mud that will be swept into drains, worsening the silting problem…  Will drains be de-silted before works begins? Will drains be frequently de-silted during the contract? Will existing interceptor tanks on the campus be kept in use? How does the hard-surface area of the redeveloped campus compare with the existing campus? If it is greater what will be done to accommodate the extra surface water run-off? We have previously been alerted to residents concerns and are reviewing the drainage scheme. We are currently in discussion with the council and are undergoing various site inspections to ascertain the nature of the drainage in the immediate area. As part of these discussions we will be reviewing the need for regularly cleaning the drains, identifying the location of the existing interceptor tanks and ascertaining if they need to be relocated or enlarged. We cannot confirm the exact details relating to drainage at this time but can assure you that the current situation will not be made any worse and will hopefully be improved. The full details will be developed over the next few months prior to starting on site. We will be happy to highlight these when they are available. Finally to answer the specific question on hard surface areas, there is little difference in overall hard landscaping on the site, it is in fact nominally less due to the more efficient layout. However as part of the drainage review we will consider the introduction of permeable hard landscaping which allows the water to soak through the playgrounds to improve the situation further.

Wheelers Lane Schools Redevelopment :  Birmingham Council Public Meeting 13th April 2005 A detailed summary appears > here. A very well attended meeting with parents, staff and many local residents. Peter Farrell of Birmingham Council explained that the schools are being redeveloped under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) by 'TransForm Schools' a subsidiary of Balfour Beatty. When complete the schools will be maintained by another Balfour Beatty subsidiary for 30 years. The new schools have been designed by architects Watkins Grey International, and a planning application will be submitted in the next few weeks. Martin Evans the project architect explained that the current nursery school, primary school and technology college will be demolished, and the annexe will be closed. A new technology college will be built in the playground area between the existing schools.  A combined nursery and primary school incorporating pupils at the annexe will be built on the site of the demolished technology college. A new  sports hall and hard play area will be built on the site of the demolished primary school. It's intended to start work in summer 2005, and open the technology college in autumn 2006 and the primary school in autumn 2007.

Extract From Kings Heath Neighbourhood Forum January 2005 AGM minutes Redevelopment of Wheelers Lane Schools Peter Farrell of Birmingham Council Education Service explained that some years ago the Council had entered into a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to redevelop 10 schools. The Council was now embarked on a second PFI contract involving 12 schools. This included Wheelers Lane Primary School and Wheelers Lane Technology College. After an extensive procurement process Balfour Beatty’s education PFI concession company Transform Schools, has been appointed for the £56 million Birmingham Schools PFI concession. Transform will demolish the existing schools and design and build the new schools. Haden Building Management, another Balfour Beatty subsidiary, will do maintaining and servicing of the buildings over a 30-year period. It is intended that construction work will start at Wheelers Lane in the 2005 summer holidays, with the work lasting 2 years, and the new schools being opened for Autumn Term 2007. Martin Evans of architects Watkins Grey International presented a PowerPoint slideshow of the currently proposed design, accompanied by drawings displayed on the walls. He described the need for a stimulating forward looking environment that delivers “best value”, including minimising disruption to learning while construction is underway. To achieve this: - 1.   The new Technology College will be built on the current central playground area. When it is completed and occupied then: - 2.   The current Technology College will be demolished and a new Primary School built on its site. When the new Primary School is completed and occupied then: - 3.   The current Primary School will be demolished and a new Sports Hall and games areas built on its site.  The staff car park will be accessed from Bagnell Road. Martin Evans indicated that pupils of both schools could access their schools from Wheelers Lane, while Peter Farrell referred to the policy of segregating primary and secondary school pupils going to/from school so: - Primary School pupils will access their school from Wheelers Lane, and Technology College pupils will access their school from Bagnell Road. There will be no access to the new Primary School from Middleton Road. Phase 1 (new Technology College)            access via Middleton Road Phase 2 (new Primary School)            access off Wheelers Lane Phase 3 (Sports Hall, games areas)            access via Bagnell Road  Forum committee member Pat O’Brian asked whether the Primary School annexe would still be needed. Martin Evans said the new school would include pupils currently in the annexe. Forum secretary Philip Briggs asked what public consultation would take place. Peter Farrell said that consultation would take place at the schools site.