Following the most recent publication of a joint letter to Frimley Health by local Surrey Heath school leaders, the Trust has provided the following response.

Dear colleagues

Thank you for your joint statement on 12 October, and for the time you have already given to meeting us.

Thank you for your support for replacing the RAAC-affected buildings at Frimley Park, and I take seriously your concerns about children’s safety on the roads around the site. You have raised the existing problems at drop-off and pick-up times with us before, as well as with local and county councillors, and we agree with you that they are real.

I want to be clear about where the site decision stands.  Land currently occupied by Pine Ridge Golf Club, owned by local charity Frimley Fuel Allotments, is our preferred site. “Preferred site” is a term used in the government’s Green Book process that we are required to follow for a project of this scale. It follows an extensive review of 18 other sites, independent analysis on two occasions, and the inclusion of further sites identified by others since. It is not a final decision. The Outline Business Case and Full Business Case both need approval from the Department of Health and Social Care, and the scheme needs planning permission from the local planning authority, before any construction can start on this site.

The detailed traffic and transport analysis this autumn and winter is the next stage of that process, and it is what will give us the evidence needed for the Outline Business Case and the planning application. It is being carried out by a third-party consultant, whom we have asked to work directly with headteachers. Its purpose is to understand the current position properly and to identify the measures needed to make travel to and from school safer. I see this as a chance to improve conditions that are already poor, and we will have the best chance of doing that if we develop solutions together.

We will engage further with you and with the wider public as part of our pre-planning application work in the spring. In the meantime, I would welcome ongoing dialogue over the next four to five months, both as a group and with individual schools and trusts. We will be in contact with you to arrange dates that suit you.

I also recognise that your experience of our discussions to date may differ from how they have been described publicly. We have met, you remain opposed to the site, and there is more work to do together.

Thank you

Lance McCarthy
Chief Executive