Policy
Castle Rushen High School and Arbory School
Stop the cycle of mismanaged design-and-build tenders by instituting rigorous, complete design specifications prior to tender. With over £3 million already spent on preliminary plans, feasibility studies, and site preparation on an overall project estimated at £62 million (Source: DESC / Freedom of Information Requests / Treasury Estimates), every year of government delay and tender restructuring inflates construction costs further at the taxpayer's expense.
As a former pupil and a current parent, seeing our children learn in an aging building while promises drag on is deeply frustrating. More than £3 million has already been spent on preliminary plans, feasibility studies, site work, and temporary mobile classrooms, with the overall capital build estimated at £62 million (Source: DESC Freedom of Information Releases / Tynwald Capital Spending Reports).
Recent revelations that the project received no formal tender bids show fundamental flaws in project management. Expecting contractors to take on the risk of bidding on an incomplete design stalls progress and adds unnecessary costs to contractors who are unwilling to lose money on an unguaranteed project. I will make the delivery of a fully-scoped Castle Rushen High School my central focus in Tynwald. Requiring complete design specifications prior to tender will protect taxpayers from spiralling construction inflation and finally deliver our new school.
Furthermore, this delay is happening alongside rapid housing growth across Castletown and Ballasalla. With hundreds of new homes being delivered in developments such as Reayrt Mie, our local primary schools, Victoria Road, Ballasalla, and the surrounding catchment, are facing immense structural strain. We cannot treat secondary and primary educational planning as separate silos.
As part of the master plan for the southern secondary catchment, government must immediately evaluate long-term primary capacity. We need a clear, evidence-based decision: either integrate a dedicated modern primary facility into the broader Castle Rushen campus footprint, or secure and designate dedicated sites in Ballasalla, such as land around Crossag’s Farm, to build a fit-for-purpose new Ballasalla Primary School before existing classrooms reach breaking point.
Planning for education must reflect real-world population growth, not reactive patchwork fixes.
I’m not interested in unstitching the work that has gone on, but I will look to reassess this project with the knowledge of the educational experts at the school and the islands stretched construction industry.
Alongside CRHS, I will champion key southern assets, ring-fencing support for the
Southern Swimming Pool, support DOI securing recruitment and stability at Ronaldsway
Airport, installing drainage at Balthane Corner and completing the Ballasalla bypass.
See my video below on my thought on CRHS and primary schools.
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/191MWsF6SA/
Arbory School
Arbory School Drop-Off & Traffic Safety: Addressing the traffic congestion and pedestrian safety risks during school drop-off and pick-up hours at Arbory Primary School by working with the DoI, police, and local commissioners to implement practical parking solutions and targeted traffic calming on the main road.
Road safety around rural primary schools on busy main roads, should have been sorted out years ago.
The local Commissioners have been raising the alarm on the drop-off nightmare in their minutes for years, but central government has just let it drag on. The way forward is pretty clear, but it needs someone to actually take charge and get everyone in the same room, the DoI, the Education department, and key local landowners, and get talking again.
Sorting out a proper, safe drop-off zone and getting traffic slowed down around Arbory Primary will be right at the top of my list in year one. I am determined to get all sides talking and fix this for the kids and parents.