KIRKLANDPARK PRIMARY SCHOOL
PARENT COUNCIL
Parent Council’s questions to Sporting Scotland (a potential co-funder)
An application for planning consent is currently before South Lanarkshire Council in relation to the construction of a full-sized 3G football pitch adjoining the nursery and infant section of Kirklandpark Primary School, Strathaven. The Parent Council is engaged in a consultation with the parents and carers of the children who attend the school and associated nursery class. As part of this we are seeking information from all bodies concerned in the financial planning and design of the project. It is our duty to promote the education and welfare of our children, and we believe the parents can only decide whether or not to support the plan if they receive the necessary information direct from the funding bodies, rather than relying on assumption, supposition and misinterpretation.
To this end, we should appreciate your response to the following:
To this end, we should appreciate your response to the following:
1. We understand that local authority support is a pre-requisite to the receipt of financial support from your organisation. Is there a minimum financial contribution required from the local authority? Must this funding be in place before a decision is made on the award of a grant? What would your position be if local authority support and funding were subsequently reduced or withdrawn?
2. Are grants available only for new, all-weather facilities? What is your position regarding the upgrading of existing grass and/or blaes pitches?
3. Do you have guidelines on the siting of facilities, and their proximity to existing housing or schools and nurseries? How great a factor in your decision making process are competing or opposing interests? What emphasis do you place, in considering whether or not to award a grant, on the support of the wider community or indeed strong local antagonism to a project?
4. Do you have any requirements on the level of exclusivity for the applicant’s group? Do you impose conditions concerning wider community access to the facilities you support? If so, how narrow is the definition of ‘community’ and with whom does the final decision rest? What follow-up procedures do you have to ensure any conditions you impose are fulfilled, and what are the sanctions if they are not?
We look forward to receiving your comments, preferably by 18th December 2009 to allow us to put them before our parents for their consideration.