Queensgate is an outstanding primary school and a cornerstone of the local community here in Bramhall. But Plans to expand the primary school have resulted in the proposal to relocate the school in its entirety to a new site at Woodford.

Currently, the majority of pupils live within walking distance of the school. Moving Queensgate to Woodford Garden Village means a significantly longer journey involving navigating busy road crossings to reach the isolated former aerodrome site. More traffic disruption, a loss of a walk to school route and reliance on cars will have a hugely negative impact on the young pupils forced to relocate.

Criticism of these proposals has already been strongly voiced by local residents, who are concerned about the uprooting of the local school community, the impact on pupils with special needs, the lengthy journey across busy roads and a resulting increase in car usage due to the lack of viability of a walk-to-school plan.

So I'm backing the launch of a petition by our local Conservative councillors to save Bramhall’s Queensgate Primary School from closure and relocation to Woodford. Our Conservative councillors in Bramhall, Cllr John McGahan, Cllr Brian Bagnall and Cllr Mike Hurleston have thrown their weight behind the local residents who are campaigning against the relocation of Queensgate Primary School. They are united in support over keeping the current Queensgate Primary School location and are supporting the scheduled opening of Woodford Primary School in September 2022.

The Garden Village, currently under construction on the former aerodrome site, has planning permission for 950 houses and a condition requiring a new school to be built to accommodate children from the development and the wider area.

The petition will be live until Monday. The justification for uprooting this community and the impact that this will have on young families is not strong enough and I hope people will back the petition calling for these proposals to be rethought, this time with the community in mind. You can sign the petition here, please do make sure your voice is heard.