00:00The local member to make a statement in respect of the petition and likewise
00:04Councillor Kidney, you have a maximum of five minutes. Thank you.
00:09Thank you very much. I'd like to thank Richard for coming along today. It's not easy standing in front of the chamber and he's totally alien to him.
00:22So thank you very much on behalf of the community. And you spoke very well.
00:26Mr Chairman, there's not a lot more to say, Mr Chairman. We've been living this process now for three years.
00:34We've been, at worst, lied to at best, misled for three years. We've got a community living under this shadow.
00:44It's just not fair to treat our colleagues as staff members of the school. It's just not fair.
00:52We have a moral duty to rebuild this school. We've been punished all along we would rebuild the school and now we're rolling back.
01:00No matter what we do, we have to spend best part of three, three quarters of a million on this school.
01:07We've got to hand it back in the condition that we've received it. So we've got to spend money.
01:13We're hiding down, we've got no money to rebuild. We have to spend that money.
01:17You know, it's, it's, it's, it's how Sharon and the staff have worked under the, under these conditions for three years. It's amazing.
01:27The level of education and nurturing they are providing their manager. You really, as a council, as council members, you really, you'll be welcome there. Come and view what they're doing there.
01:40A lot of these young children, they've got, have got real issues. They're being, they're being taught, they're being nurtured and they're sent on to secondary education and there's no issue, then there's no cost to the council.
01:55The, the service they are providing in that school is fantastic. So please, this, we've got reorganizing committees, we've got all schools, overview committees, no one's ever been there.
02:06In three years, no one, a fair play to Councillor Hugh Murphy, he's gone there. We, we've gone to other schools, why have we not gone to one area?
02:14This, this, this is an, this is an event that doesn't happen all the time. Schools do not burn down. And we, no one's come to visit us. No one from the, it, it, it, it.
02:23Which biggest beliefs to me. So we, we, we do feel that there is a heterogeneity here. The, the consultation is, there's a terrible spin on the consultation.
02:32That consultation is nothing more than a sales brochure for St. Florence School. There's, there's, there's very little about the positives of my idea of school there.
02:41Massive amounts on St. Florence. It, we, we, we, we were led to believe that the consultation would be all about the, the, the, the positives and negatives.
02:52Not put up against another school. And that can be spun anywhere you like. Any consultation can be spun. So we feel very let down with that.
03:01We've, er, myself and Gareth Chair of the Governors have made representations to the Chief Executive. Er, we have a sympathetic hearing, but, but nothing's changed.
03:10So we're very disappointed in the, the consultation. We've asked that the consultation, er, is, is monitored. So once it's through, once it's in place, that no negative spin is put on it.
03:24Because we have lost all trust in the directors or the education directorate. We have no faith. We've been lied to. We've been pushed on. And, er, we still feel that we're not being listened to.
03:36Er, er, in, in, in summary, erm, because I remember, I, I, I really hope when this comes to, erm, come to the council now in February, I believe it.
03:46The book comes in February, I believe it is. That you as councillors now, you know, don't, don't just go along with it, with the narrative that we can't afford it, the figures are down.
03:56The figures are, the figures are, are, are going up in Manabir School. We cannot get to 80. That school, where, where the, the tenfold premises are, we can only have 30. We cannot go up to 80.
04:08The, the, the cost per pupil, erm, I know, erm, the chairman of the, the modernisation group, he goes on about this per pupil as well. But they've kept the staff on in Manabir, because they've been promised all along, but they've been re-bid.
04:23Well, of course they've kept the staff on. Of course they have. Because, it, it, it, it, it couldn't get rid of the staff, and then, we hire later on, in our minds, when the school is what we've promised are going to be rebuilt.
04:35So, all, all the, the, the, the excuses that come out of the, the consultations, we can prove them. And we're not making stories up, we can, we can beat these with facts.
04:45So, please, keep an open mind when this comes to, to Council in February. Go away at Christmas, have a think about it, and do the moral thing.
04:54When this comes up, in February, don't just look at facts and figures, look at the story. Before you make your vote, come out to Manabir.
05:03Come and meet Sharon and the staff. Come and meet the governors. Get the full story.
05:07Don't just act on facts and figures, because the school deserves better than that.
05:13Thank you. It's a foot in March, the meeting.
05:15It's a foot in March.
05:16A foot in March.
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