1. As a resident in the immediate vicinity of the proposed school site, I totally empathise with those livng close by who are concerned about the immediate and long term implications that building a school on the proposed site would bring
2. As a local resident, I have long held concerns about the size of vehicles that are allowed to use the Tunstall Road. This is an issue irrespective of whether there is a school in Tunstall at all
3. As a local resident, in their early 40s with children, I am lucky to have great neighbours, of whom 3 out of 4 of our immediate are retired couples. We put each others bins out, chat over the garden fence etc - there is no "generation divide"
4. As a local resident who would like to live in the area for a long time yet to come, I am trying to look beyond when my children cease to need primary education
5. As a parent, one of our children attends Tunstall School at the current site. He has benefited from excellent experiences (educationally and personal developmentally) despite the facilities that are available. His default method of getting to / from school is on foot.
6. As a parent of children that have yet to need primary education, if the school relocation does not go ahead, the assumption of many might be that these children would follow their elder sibling up to the current school. That is not our intention. Why? The complete uncertainty over the school on its current site influenced by the risks of the school being reduced in size (high-medium) with a possibility (not a certainty) that eventually it may have to close, the risk of the facilities not being brought into the 21st Century (high-medium), the risks of the leased land being withdrawn (low). I don't have a crystal ball but as a parent who wants to give their kids a great start it life I want to reduce / eliminate risks that could hinder that. If others locally share our thinking, and some of our friends do, then the future of the school may not be to service those who live in the parish even if it does remain. Who knows? I don't!
6. As a parent, if the school relocation does go ahead it will provide a fantastic facility for some of my children in the future.
7. As an individual, I spent the 1st 4 years of my life living next to a farm ... I love the countryside! Building on it should not be taken lightly. At some point in history though every single house that anyone currently occupies, every single school, every single office, every single shop etc etc was only occupied by nature. Things evolve. That's life.
8. As an individual, long term stategies are vital - I don't see that being particularly evident. Not building additional infrastructure, e.g. with Eden Village does seem an opportunity missed - but it wasn't and we are where we are.
9. As an individual, I want to be a member of a thriving community, who feel able to share different perspectives, who listen and learn from each other, who can agree to disagree and move on. It is possible, people just need to want to.
10. As a resident my observation is that there are pockets of "communities" in the Tunstall area at the moment, but they are not joined up. There is an opportunity for that to happen. People just need to want to.

On the school proposal there is no easy answer.

However, after it is all decided the local people will still need to be able to get on with their lives, and there is evidence that local people are already being made to feel uncomfortable because they are supporting the proposal or not supporting the proposal. That's not good. As I have shared above, there are many who can see pros and cons, and that may not be a particularly even mix, and when they weigh it all up, they are deciding one way or another - and that's OK. Regardless of opinion or perspective I would just ask that everyone respects others and treats them how they wish to be treated, which may not be how you wish to be treated.

Thank you for letting me share my thoughts.

#157: Life's Too Short ... and rarely simple - A multi perspective view

Agree totally with the spirit and concilliatory nature of your comments. Though my views and hopes for this plan are in direct opposition to your own, I respect your right to hold them and defend your right also to propound them. I am sure most of us want a just , sensible and sustainable outcome.

As a child growing up in the post war years in a rural environment, we had neither the wealth nor at that time the availibility of the double curse of television or computer games. Being in such an environment we were encouraged to read, which we did avidly and also to dicuss and construct an argument which would throw light rather than heat on a particular topic. One aspect of wisdom my mother would interject at times when maybe a little too much heat was being generated was that fifty per cent of the art of conversation or discussion was listening. A skill that seems sadly lacking in this current debate.

As for the large scale of these early learning facilities being the future or progress  I have my reservations, as the twin curses of television and computer games, once hailed as revolutionary and beneficial to all, have been seen to have a deletirious effect on family life and community cohesion. We are often told that 'we work so many hours these days there just isn't the time any more for family life' , but in my own and my fathers working lives 60-70 hour working weeks were not uncommon, yet the time was still found to cement the bonds of family and community. Again this is notably absent now.

Forgive my rant and personal social history, but I am just using it to highlight the difference in attitude, then and now.

I don't think I am looking through rose tinted specs as I can still feel the warmth of all those years past, it isn't evident now.

In conclusion ditch the screechers and wilfully deaf, let reason and generosity of spirit prevail.

Offered in a spirit of amity and good neighbourliness