THE HEADTEACHER of a Denton primary school that will finally be rebuilt admits he is ready to welcome the first bulldozer.
Russell Scott, on Clare Street, will see a new building constructed on the playing fields that have been out of use for more than a decade.
The go ahead was finally confirmed at a meeting of Tameside Council’s Speaker’s Panel (Planning) committee on Wednesday, April 15.
And Steve Marsland admits he cannot wait for the first construction vehicles to turn up – with a likely start date of later this year in the hope it will be built and occupied by February 2028.
He told the Correspondent: “For the first digger to arrive, there’ll be a balloon party going on.
“All the kids will be out, shouting and bawling!
“The children of Denton will be gleeful, as am I. It’s a time for celebration as the children of Denton are going to have something to be proud of.”
The trials of Russell Scott Primary School started before the ink was even dry on the press release welcoming its last rebuild, by now-collapsed firm Carillion, in 2015.
Sewage coming up into the playground, having to evacuate because of explosive levels of sewer gas that triggered alarms and other issues brought things to a head.
Now, though, the Department for Education will fund the new two-storey school, which can accommodate the current 472 pupils.
Children will remain on site while the new facility is being built next door before switching.
And Mr Marsland – who will be there when the new building opens – lamented the ‘generations’ of pupils who went through their entire journeys there without being able to use it fully.
Even before the catastrophic new building opened, it was based at the former Two Trees High School for two-and-a-half years.
And he added, revealing the wagons’ access will be via the delivery road for neighbouring Denton Community College: “We’ve had generations of children who won’t see the benefit, who had to endure all the difficulties.
“They’ve lost multiple weeks of education. Mums and dads have been under pressure through childcare issues. One day we’re in school, the next we’ve had a flood.
“It’s been dreadful over all these years. Nobody took responsibility and it’s taken all these years to prove, according to architects and specialists, the school should’ve never opened.
“Within the first week, we had a major issue with the alarms and we were shut, which says a lot.
“The heating and ventilation systems haven’t worked since we were put in there. We’ve paid tens of thousands of pounds of a general school budget, that’s there for children, to pay for energy because the system didn’t work and was never changed or challenged.
“We’ve had to manage with that for 11 years.”
Russell Scott’s rebuild will see a boost of SEND provision there from six pupils to 25 and new sports pitches, which will be placed where the current school stands, that can be used by the community.
“Schools should be the centre of their community,” Mr Marsland continued. “We’ll have a brand new state of the art primary school. It’s going to be a fantastic facility for generations of children to come in Denton.
“And I’ll be making sure that every nut, every screw, every blade of grass is the best that it can be.”
News of Russell Scott’s rebuild was greeted with enthusiasm by Speaker’s Panel members, who unanimously approved it.
Denton South Cllr George Newton said: “It’s going to be a huge, positive thing for kids in Denton, particularly SEND children.
“It’s been a long time coming. Local parents and Steve hve been fighting for this for a long time.”