Thursday 21 October 2010
Friday 1 October 2010
email To Philip Saxton on 01.10.2010 re Marr
To philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 01 October 2010 17:12:16
To: philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Philip,
Thank you very much for your email reply of today. Unfortunately I did not receive the reply to my communication of 9th August that you mention, yet I received many other emails around that date.
I realise the informal consultation is now complete and I (on my own behalf) have all ready submitted the required documentation to the consultation.
I am somewhat surprised at your line "any corespondence from groups or petitions will be taken as one person support or objection for either a refurnishment or new build" given that South Ayrshire Council have themselves tried their own survey over the last few days of school pupils of Marr College. It seems a great deal of trouble for the Council to have gone to if this will be only counted as 1 response.
Your comment also contradicts previously what South Ayrshire Council had previously advised i.e. that petitions and correspondence from groups counted for nothing whatsoever, meaning their own survey counts for nothing whatsoever.
South Ayrshire Council is also therefore different to the Scottish Parliament where petitions do count for more than nothing or indeed 1 person.
Like you my main concern is for the current and future pupils in secondary education in Troon which I believe would be best served by South Ayrshire Council maintaining their existing schools and buildings so that pupils could be educated in satisfactory accomodation for the long term. This is why I think the refurbishment of the existing iconic building which has inspired many generations of pupils would be better than the building of a new school which would with necessity do away with the existing traditions, itself require replacement within about 30 years and remove the reputation which Marr College has had for many many years. Surely building on that existing reputation is better than destroying it.
Marr College continues to inspire people to fight on its behalf and engenders great respect due to its reputation for good education achieved over many years. South Ayrshire Council has a reputation in the local area gained through its own actions over many years of neglecting Marr College and general financial mismanagement.
It is interesting to note that you state that your decision will be taken in the interests of the Trust and not the Council. These should be one and the same i.e. the best interests of the education of the people of Troon, in particular those all ready at and who will in future attend Marr. Ofcourse finance should also be considered but I hope we all live in a country where more than the bottom line is taken into consideration even in these financially strapped times.
I continue to be surprised that Marr Trust have allowed South Ayrshire Council to neglect the Marr College buildings to the extent that they seem to have over many years.
I thank you for taking the time to respond. It is reassuring to note that you do care about this after all.
I look forward to a satisfactory outcome.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil with family still in Troon)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 01 October 2010 17:12:16
To: philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Philip,
Thank you very much for your email reply of today. Unfortunately I did not receive the reply to my communication of 9th August that you mention, yet I received many other emails around that date.
I realise the informal consultation is now complete and I (on my own behalf) have all ready submitted the required documentation to the consultation.
I am somewhat surprised at your line "any corespondence from groups or petitions will be taken as one person support or objection for either a refurnishment or new build" given that South Ayrshire Council have themselves tried their own survey over the last few days of school pupils of Marr College. It seems a great deal of trouble for the Council to have gone to if this will be only counted as 1 response.
Your comment also contradicts previously what South Ayrshire Council had previously advised i.e. that petitions and correspondence from groups counted for nothing whatsoever, meaning their own survey counts for nothing whatsoever.
South Ayrshire Council is also therefore different to the Scottish Parliament where petitions do count for more than nothing or indeed 1 person.
Like you my main concern is for the current and future pupils in secondary education in Troon which I believe would be best served by South Ayrshire Council maintaining their existing schools and buildings so that pupils could be educated in satisfactory accomodation for the long term. This is why I think the refurbishment of the existing iconic building which has inspired many generations of pupils would be better than the building of a new school which would with necessity do away with the existing traditions, itself require replacement within about 30 years and remove the reputation which Marr College has had for many many years. Surely building on that existing reputation is better than destroying it.
Marr College continues to inspire people to fight on its behalf and engenders great respect due to its reputation for good education achieved over many years. South Ayrshire Council has a reputation in the local area gained through its own actions over many years of neglecting Marr College and general financial mismanagement.
It is interesting to note that you state that your decision will be taken in the interests of the Trust and not the Council. These should be one and the same i.e. the best interests of the education of the people of Troon, in particular those all ready at and who will in future attend Marr. Ofcourse finance should also be considered but I hope we all live in a country where more than the bottom line is taken into consideration even in these financially strapped times.
I continue to be surprised that Marr Trust have allowed South Ayrshire Council to neglect the Marr College buildings to the extent that they seem to have over many years.
I thank you for taking the time to respond. It is reassuring to note that you do care about this after all.
I look forward to a satisfactory outcome.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil with family still in Troon)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
email from Philip Saxton of 29.09.2010 re Marr
To cdbc81 Crawford
From: Saxton, Philip (Philip.Saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk)
Sent: 29 September 2010 19:11:52
To: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
My apologies if i missed your email i usually make a point of replying to all corespondance however i will check my emails tomorow and reply I can assure you it was a oversight and can only apologies again.
Regards philip
From: Saxton, Philip (Philip.Saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk)
Sent: 29 September 2010 19:11:52
To: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
My apologies if i missed your email i usually make a point of replying to all corespondance however i will check my emails tomorow and reply I can assure you it was a oversight and can only apologies again.
Regards philip
email of 29.09.2010 to Philip Saxton regarding Marr
To philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 29 September 2010 17:03:42
To: philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Mr Saxton,
Given that I have not received any response (to my email of 9th August 2010) regarding the matter of the future of Marr College I can only assume that you are not particularly interested in the future of Marr College and also the secondary educational future of the children of Troon. This directly constrasts with some of your other colleagues.
No wonder not many people vote in council elections.
Your lack of response has therefore been noted.
I look forward to the outcome of the consultation though.
Given my experience of consultations in the past I do not hold out very much hope that the concerted campaign to get South Ayrshire Council to refurbish the original Marr building rather than build a new school on the playing fields will have made a great deal of difference, as I have never before been involved in one which has resulted in any significant difference. This is despite votes taking place at the public meetings indicating that a large majority of local people are for refurbishment that do not appear in the official minutes of those meetings, a petition (that South Ayrshire Council have stated that they will not take any attention of, even despite its 1229 names and counting) and letter/ email writing with reasoned arguments in response to each of the statements arguing for building a new school on the playing fields.
I do hope I am proved wrong and that the refurbishment option is selected.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 29 September 2010 17:03:42
To: philip.saxton@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Mr Saxton,
Given that I have not received any response (to my email of 9th August 2010) regarding the matter of the future of Marr College I can only assume that you are not particularly interested in the future of Marr College and also the secondary educational future of the children of Troon. This directly constrasts with some of your other colleagues.
No wonder not many people vote in council elections.
Your lack of response has therefore been noted.
I look forward to the outcome of the consultation though.
Given my experience of consultations in the past I do not hold out very much hope that the concerted campaign to get South Ayrshire Council to refurbish the original Marr building rather than build a new school on the playing fields will have made a great deal of difference, as I have never before been involved in one which has resulted in any significant difference. This is despite votes taking place at the public meetings indicating that a large majority of local people are for refurbishment that do not appear in the official minutes of those meetings, a petition (that South Ayrshire Council have stated that they will not take any attention of, even despite its 1229 names and counting) and letter/ email writing with reasoned arguments in response to each of the statements arguing for building a new school on the playing fields.
I do hope I am proved wrong and that the refurbishment option is selected.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
Another email to Nan McFarlane re Marr
To nan.mcfarlane@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 29 September 2010 16:55:37
To: nan.mcfarlane@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Nan,
Further to our conversation (last email from me of 30.08.2010) regarding the building of a new school to replace Marr on the existing playing fields as opposed to refurbishing the existing buildings, I had been expecting a further reply from you.
Why? This was for two reasons.
Given that you perhaps inadvertently again mislead me regarding the new extension which you had previously stated had not assisted regarding the over-capacity number of pupils attending the school. I found this rather alarming considering you attended the school, were on the Marr Trust (even although you are at present not attending meetings) and are on South Ayrshire Council where any decisions will be made.
"As regards the building built in the late 70s in addition to the facilities you mention I can recall a conservative estimate of 30 additional classrooms which were included (I attended it when the new extension was open) although these may currently be disused because of South Ayrshire Council's neglect of the school. [The new building included classrooms for Modern Languages, Geography, History, Latin, Classics, Art, Woodwork, Technical Drawing, a common room for 6th years, 2 gyms, 1 large games hall, a library, a canteen, etc at that time. English, Sciences, Music, Drama, Home Economics, Computing, Maths stayed in the old building.] Therefore although this may not have been sufficient to meet the over capacity problem it in a large part (if not completely) addressed it."
I hope as a result of this information, and your obvious enthusiasm for finding the best future for future secondary school pupils in Trooin and South Ayrshire, you will have found out that the 1970s extension indeed contains more than the 'library, gym and dining hall' that you mentioned in your email of 30th August and can now disseminate the correct information and argue from a position of knowledge in this respect.
I was also looking forward to a reply on the issue of having pupils on site during refurbishment works. Please see the paragraph below from my email of 27.08.2010.
"I do not understand the problem of having pupils on site during refurbishment works. I quote ‘If the playing fields are not an option the Council will need to decant all the pupils somewhere else as the law dictates we cannot have children being educated on a building site over and above the health and safety issue.’ This is because I stay directly opposite a school in Glasgow which is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment. If the law does indeed dictate that children cannot be educated on the building site then I believe that Glasgow City Council are currently breaking that law."
As I do stay opposite a school with pupils in it in Glasgow I would be very much interested in hearing about this law since Glasgow City Council seem obviously to be breaking it.
I look forward to the outcome of the consultation.
Given my experience of consultations in the past I do not hold out very much hope that the concerted campaign to get South Ayrshire Council to refurbish the original Marr building rather than build a new school on the playing fields will have made a great deal of difference, as I have never before been involved in one which has resulted in any significant difference. This is despite votes taking place at the public meetings indicating that a large majority of local people are for refurbishment that do not appear in the official minutes of those meetings, a petition (that South Ayrshire Council have stated that they will not take any attention of, even despite its 1229 names and counting) and letter/ email writing with reasoned arguments in response to each of the statements arguing for building a new school on the playing fields.
I do hope I am proved wrong and that the refurbishment option is selected.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
From: cdbc81 Crawford (cdbc81@hotmail.com)
Sent: 29 September 2010 16:55:37
To: nan.mcfarlane@south-ayrshire.gov.uk
Dear Nan,
Further to our conversation (last email from me of 30.08.2010) regarding the building of a new school to replace Marr on the existing playing fields as opposed to refurbishing the existing buildings, I had been expecting a further reply from you.
Why? This was for two reasons.
Given that you perhaps inadvertently again mislead me regarding the new extension which you had previously stated had not assisted regarding the over-capacity number of pupils attending the school. I found this rather alarming considering you attended the school, were on the Marr Trust (even although you are at present not attending meetings) and are on South Ayrshire Council where any decisions will be made.
"As regards the building built in the late 70s in addition to the facilities you mention I can recall a conservative estimate of 30 additional classrooms which were included (I attended it when the new extension was open) although these may currently be disused because of South Ayrshire Council's neglect of the school. [The new building included classrooms for Modern Languages, Geography, History, Latin, Classics, Art, Woodwork, Technical Drawing, a common room for 6th years, 2 gyms, 1 large games hall, a library, a canteen, etc at that time. English, Sciences, Music, Drama, Home Economics, Computing, Maths stayed in the old building.] Therefore although this may not have been sufficient to meet the over capacity problem it in a large part (if not completely) addressed it."
I hope as a result of this information, and your obvious enthusiasm for finding the best future for future secondary school pupils in Trooin and South Ayrshire, you will have found out that the 1970s extension indeed contains more than the 'library, gym and dining hall' that you mentioned in your email of 30th August and can now disseminate the correct information and argue from a position of knowledge in this respect.
I was also looking forward to a reply on the issue of having pupils on site during refurbishment works. Please see the paragraph below from my email of 27.08.2010.
"I do not understand the problem of having pupils on site during refurbishment works. I quote ‘If the playing fields are not an option the Council will need to decant all the pupils somewhere else as the law dictates we cannot have children being educated on a building site over and above the health and safety issue.’ This is because I stay directly opposite a school in Glasgow which is currently undergoing extensive refurbishment. If the law does indeed dictate that children cannot be educated on the building site then I believe that Glasgow City Council are currently breaking that law."
As I do stay opposite a school with pupils in it in Glasgow I would be very much interested in hearing about this law since Glasgow City Council seem obviously to be breaking it.
I look forward to the outcome of the consultation.
Given my experience of consultations in the past I do not hold out very much hope that the concerted campaign to get South Ayrshire Council to refurbish the original Marr building rather than build a new school on the playing fields will have made a great deal of difference, as I have never before been involved in one which has resulted in any significant difference. This is despite votes taking place at the public meetings indicating that a large majority of local people are for refurbishment that do not appear in the official minutes of those meetings, a petition (that South Ayrshire Council have stated that they will not take any attention of, even despite its 1229 names and counting) and letter/ email writing with reasoned arguments in response to each of the statements arguing for building a new school on the playing fields.
I do hope I am proved wrong and that the refurbishment option is selected.
Regards
Christopher
Christopher Crawford (ex Marr pupil)
81 Meadowpark Street
Flat G2
Dennistoun
GLASGOW
G31 2SH
tel: 0141 554 4079
e: cdbc81@hotmail.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)