ILMINSTER NEWS: New school might not be a myth after all

THE suggestion that a planned new school for Ilminster could be just a “myth” might not actually be strictly true – a meeting is going to be held about the project early next month!

Members of Ilminster Town Council flatly rejected the suggestion last week that a site for a new school had been earmarked as part of a possible 450-home development by Persimmon Homes off Canal Way.

Cllr Roger Swann said “please can we scotch this myth” about a new school and that “it’s just a pipe dream.”

While Cllr Stuart Shepherd  said “it’s a myth – it’s never going to happen.”

But the Ilminster Press has been told by Somerset County Council that a meeting will be a “stakeholder engagement drop-in session” at Greenfylde School in Ilminster on Wednesday, March 8, 2017, from 3pm to 6.30pm.

The session will take place on the same day as parents’ evening.

It is understood that it will be looking at how Greenfylde can be expanded, but with limited space at its present site in the heart of the town centre, the only real alternative is for a new school to be built which will be able to cater for the extra children that Ilminster will have in the years to come.

So it could be argued that we are not talking about a new school in the “new” sense of the word, but a replacement school for Greenfylde.

The drop-in session is expected to be attended by parents and teachers from the local schools, local residents and early years providers, local councillors from Somerset County Council, South Somerset District Council and Ilminster Town Council and other interested parties.

It is understood that more details about the event will be made public soon.

Earlier this year Cllr Linda Vijeh, Ilminster’s representative at Somerset County Council, said she had received an update from County Hall about the future provision for education in Ilminster considering its increase in population due to the proposed Persimmon development.

Cllr Vijeh said that she had been informed that included in the Persimmon plans was access to a new school site for the “potential replacement of Greenfylde First School.”

“I’ve been told it is going to be difficult to expand the current Greenfylde site to meet the need of future housing in the town,” said Cllr Vijeh. “Therefore replacement and expansion of Greenfylde must be considered.

“I’ve been told that a stakeholder engagement event will be arranged in the spring for anybody with interest to find out more.”

It now appears that that stakeholder engagement event is planned for Wednesday, March 8, 2017.

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