No more cash for a greener school

The school, which was badly damaged by fire two years ago, is set for a complete refurbishment in July with a target completion date of October 2008. The Government awarded 10 million for the project while East Sussex County Council agreed an additional 800,000.

Newhaven county councillors David Rogers and Pat Ost had suggested in February that an extra 200,000 be made available from county coffers. This, they argued, would allow the school to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Cllr Rogers said: 'I am both a parent and a governor at Tideway. All my kids have been there and my youngest is still there. I have been following what has been going on there for 10 years.

'At a fairly early stage I said to officers and lead members at the county council that this was an opportunity whenever the rebuild took place, given the site at the top of a hill, to include as many environmentally friendly elements.

'Wind turbines, solar panels, rainwater harvesting '“ there are a whole host of things which can be done. I asked them to investigate.

'At the budget meeting back in February they added another 800,000 to the 10 million scheme which was already identified. Pat Ost and I moved an amendment for the additional 200,000 bringing the sum up to 11 million which would have gone some way to including those better features.

'We put forward the amendment and it was voted out.'

Cllr Rogers said he thought the new school was going to be brilliant but it could have been even better with the additional features. He added: 'It has got to last for another 50 years or so, so now is the time to do it.

'It would demonstrate to the community, and especially to the young people in particular, that this is the way we need to think because of climate change.'

Newhaven town councillor and former Tideway pupil Carla Butler said the money could have been spent making the school more sustainable.

'I am disappointed they couldn't have got that additional money,' she said. 'Environmental issues should be at the forefront. The refurbishment is a great move forward so I suppose I am happy and disappointed at the same time. The new design is great and it is going to be a great improvement.'

A county council spokesman said the new school was going to be far more energy efficient as it was going to be built on one site rather than two and would incorporate power-saving central heating.

Large parts of the school were destroyed or put out of use following the huge fire in April 2005. Since then the county council has been working with the school to draw up the re-build and refurbishment proposals.