A guest Post by Philip Grant
I was delighted to see, earlier this month, that
the York House car park site could be used for a
new youth centre, rather than a
primary school. When I read the report to Brent’s Cabinet meeting, alarm bells
started ringing. The Department for Education may have cancelled the
ill-conceived Ark Somerville Primary Free School project, but the Wembley Park
redevelopment area will still need a new primary school, by 2028 on the latest
projections. Where would that be built?
NOT the Wembley Park Primary School, but hopefully
something like it! (Image from the
internet)
It has been known since the early 2000s that the
large number of homes Quintain planned to build at Wembley Park meant that a
new primary school would be required to serve the area. Brent agreed that the
early stages of the development, around the Arena, should be mainly smaller
homes, with the majority of the family-sized accommodation provided to the east
of Olympic Way in the later phases.
Brent’s land use policy for the North East Lands. (Wembley Masterplan, 2009)
When the Council adopted its Wembley Masterplan in
2009, the “North East Lands” area (ringed in red on the map above) was
identified as a primary school location (or one of them, if two smaller primary
schools were to be built to meet growing demand for places during the course of
the next 20 years, to 2030). This would put the school close to the main
residential area, and next to a new park which was to be provided as part of
the development.
That choice of location was carried forward into
the Wembley Area Action Plan (“WAAP” – yes, that again!), adopted by the
Council in 2015, which is still the current planning policy document for this
area. The WAAP’s policy on school places emphasised the importance of securing
sites for new schools, where large developments meant an increase in
population. It also said that primary schools ‘need to be located directly
within the area of population growth’, and that ‘nursery facilities … could be
combined with other new … primary school facilities.’
The WAAP policy WEM 29, on Community Facilities,
stated that ‘the council will … secure at least four forms of entry at primary
level, to be secured on development sites within the Wembley area’. It also
noted the ‘provision of one site in site proposal W 18.’ This site proposal
covered the 4.9 hectare Wembley Retail Park, also known as the North East
Lands, and said that ‘a new primary school will be provided’ on that site.
All very good - so what changed? At the end of 2015,
Quintain submitted a huge “hybrid” planning application. It included detailed
plans for a multi-storey car and coach park to the east of Wembley Stadium, and
outline proposals for most of the rest of the land at Wembley Park which it had
still to develop. Application 15/5550 has been called the Wembley Park
Masterplan, but it was Quintain’s masterplan, not Brent’s.
The application (over 300 documents and plans) was
one of a number considered at a Planning Committee meeting on 11 May 2016, just two days after the previous meeting. Most of
the objections and discussions were about the car and coach park. The meeting
went on for over four hours, and two of the committee members had gone home
before it was approved by 4 votes to 1, with one abstention!
Among the outline proposals approved (with little
or no discussion) was that the primary school site should be moved to the York
House car park. Two sentences from the report by Planning Officers to the
committee sum up how this was allowed to happen, despite it going against
Brent’s adopted policy for the school’s location:
‘This
plot has been identified by the applicant as an appropriate location for
a 3 form of entry primary school and nursery.’
‘The proposal
delivers the same strategic objective (the provision of nursery and primary
school places) and is considered to be acceptable in principle.’
A cynic might suggest that the applicant, Quintain,
had identified the York House car park site for commercial reasons, not valid
planning reasons, so that it could build tall blocks of flats on the North East
plot(s) which would otherwise be used for a primary school site.
But it was only an outline planning consent for the
York House site, wasn’t it? When the detailed planning application for the
school went before the Committee
on 6 June 2018, members were given strict instructions by a Planning Officer. They
were not allowed to consider whether the new school to serve the Wembley Park
redevelopment should be sited elsewhere, the Officer Report saying:
‘the parameters
material submitted with the application [15/5550] specifically identified the
subject site (known as Development Zone YH1) for a 3FE Primary School and
associated Nursery.’ and:
‘This reserved
matters application is considered to be in material compliance with the
parameters and principles established under the outline consent.’
Only one committee
member voted against the application (here’s a reminder, if you don’t
remember what happened to him!). Air pollution had been raised as
a major problem with this site for a primary school, with dangerously high NO2
levels along Wembley Hill Road admitted in the application’s Air Quality
Assessment. No account was taken of the effect on young children who would be
walking to the school. In respect of the school building itself, Officers said
that mitigation measures would be included in the conditions for the planning
consent. These were having no opening windows on that side of the school below
a height of 4.5 metres, and that the air intakes for artificial air circulation
must be situated above that height.
Following that
decision, the York House car park site was bought from Quintain by the DfE’s
Education Funding Agency, for provision of the Ark primary school. Because of
the number of increased primary places provided by Brent at other existing
schools, and a slight (temporary?) fall in demand for places, the DfE have now
dropped the York House school project. Which brings me back to my opening
question – where will the Wembley Park primary school that Brent will
need, within the next 5 to 10 years, be built?
After the 2016
“Wembley Park Masterplan” decision, Brent’s planning policy, in its emerging
Local Plan, has depended on the York House school site. The North East Lands
are currently the subject of Quintain’s detailed planning application, 20/2844,
which would see tall blocks of flats built around three sides of the northern
section of the new park.
Something had to be
done, so I have started the ball rolling! I researched the labyrinth of
planning application details and planning policy documents involved, and have
submitted detailed objection comments on application 20/2844. These set out why
the application, which is listed as a variation of conditions under the 15/5550
application, can and should be amended to provide a reserved site for a 3-form entry
primary school, and nursery (and should be refused if it does not make that
change). I am hoping that Martin can add a copy of my comments document at the
end of this article, so that anyone who is interested can read them.
As well as sending
my document to Brent’s Planning Officers, I have also sent it with covering
emails to the Lead Members and Strategic Directors for Regeneration and for
Schools, and to the councillors for Tokyngton Ward, to ensure that Brent is
fully aware of its risk of having no site for the new primary school it has a
duty to provide by 2028. And as this is a matter which would best be settled by
agreement between Brent Council and Quintain, I have also sent a copy to the
developer’s Head of Masterplanning and Design, and Head of Planning.
I have done what I
can, but this is a matter of concern which present and potential future
residents of Brent, and Wembley Park in particular, and those with an interest
in education in the borough, need to be aware of. Action needs to be taken on
this issue now, but I am just one “voice” (or laptop keyboard, during
lockdown). If you agree with me, please make your views known by
objecting to planning application
20/2844, or contacting an appropriate councillor or Council Officer.
Thank you.
Philip Grant.
Philip's comments - click bottow right corner for full page version
