Local Fine Gael Councillor Neale Richmond has welcomed the decision late last night by Councillors on Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to back his motion seeking a Special Local Objective allowing for the construction of a new secondary school in Stepaside.
“This is the first step in the relocation and expansion of Rosemount School from their existing under sized campus in Blackrock to a new site on the Enniskerry Road.
“Our area is in desperate need of more school places at all levels, the beauty of this proposal is that no state funding is required and the school will be able to begin the planning process in January. The ideal situation would of course be for the provision of a co-educational, community school but budgetary constraints make this a more distant possibility. However, the Department has explicitly stated that this development will in no way impact on the need for such a school in the area.
“The proposed relocation will see Rosemount expand from a current enrollment of 102 pupils to 300 pupils with 50 of these coming from a sister school in Spain, as a result 50 local host families will be sourced, a revenue generating exercise as well as community building one.
“Already, at this early stage, a number of local parents & also National School principals have contacted the school making enquiries about admissions as well as the use of proposed facilities. The construction of an astro-turf hockey pitch, tennis courts, an assembly hall and a sports hall will be of benefit to the whole community.”