I am opposed to free schools and academies and so is the Green Party. The Liberal Democrats have gone along with free schools and academies in the Coalition and Sarah Teather changed her position from opposition to support when she became a minister. On that and much else I am passionately opposed to them.
However Liberal Democrat councillor Alision Hopkins has been vociferous in her opposition to the Gladstone Free School being built on the William Gladstone Open Space next to Gladstone Park and I think her reasons deserve a wider circulation.
Here is Alison's Guest Blog which is what she would have said at tonight's meeting.
I’m really sorry I can’t be at the meeting tonight.
I’ve a family funeral in Southampton which clashes.
For me, this
is a very personal issue. I grew up at the Gladstone Park end of Dollis
Hill Avenue, and played in the park and on the open space as a child. I
know it well, and I know its history and value to our community.
Let’s be
clear, first of all, about the kind of green space that’s threatened.
This
land has never been built on. Centuries ago it was part of Lower Oxgate
Farm, later, market gardens and then allotments. It is now Metropolitan
Open Land, which is the equivalent of Green Belt in London. It is
protected by law.
Let’s also be clear that this is not about the school per se, it’s about the proposed
location.
Gladstone
School has claimed that they wish to build on the site of the old
William
Gladstone School. That site – where the school buildings once stood –
is now houses and flats. The school wish to build on William Gladstone
Open Space, which is its proper name, NOT Gladstone Playing Fields. And,
for the sake of clarity, it’s in Dollis Hill,
not Willesden as has repeatedly been stated.
The William
Gladstone Open Space is precisely that. Open, green land that belongs to
ALL of us. The school have also claimed the space is disused and run
down. Their own press release refers to it as a “near abandoned “space!
Perhaps they should tell that to the rugby players, the dog walkers,
joggers, commuters and all the other people who
use it. Perhaps they should also tell that to the people who simply
love looking and enjoying one of London’s precious and all too few green
lungs.
Gladstone Park
isn’t merely “nearby” as the school claim. It’s part of the space they
want, and any road from Parkside to the school would have to go through
Gladstone Park itself. The importance of Gladstone Park and the William
Gladstone Open Space cannot be overstated.
The school
also claims that Brent Council considered building on the Open Space in
2005.
That’s being economical with the truth, to say the least. In 2005,
Brent looked at every piece of land they owned to identify a site for a
second City Academy at Wembley. The William Gladstone Open Space came
last on the list and was rejected out of hand as
totally unsuitable. Nothing has changed since them.
I was
contacted by the school in August last year and I, with another fellow
councillor
met them in September. I made it clear then that I thought any idea of
building on the open space was utterly wrong, would be fiercely resisted
and that other options were available. Indeed, I suggested several to
them, including other Brent owned properties.
Residents then
started to approach me, to express their fears for what is the heart
of our community. They are the ones – as it should be with any grass
roots campaign! – who are leading this and who have pushed this campaign
along. They’re the ones who’ve spent every evening and all weekends
knocking on doors. They’re the ones who’ve set
up Facebook pages.
Kilburn
Cosmos, our terrific local rugby team, would be devastated if
these plans went ahead. It would mean the loss of one of their
essential rugby pitches. And, by the way, over a quarter of a million
pounds was spent on that pitch very recently. When Cosmos applied to
build a tiny club house on the Open Space, they were turned
down almost instantly by Brent Council.
William
Gladstone school was closed due to failing rolls in the early 1990s.
This was
in part because of poor transport links and also because of the nature
of our Dollis Hill feeder schools. Nothing has changed since then.
There are
three local primary schools in Dollis Hill. One is Orthodox Jewish, one
Catholic
and the only non-faith school, Braintcroft is directly across the road
from Crest Academy. Crest is having £40 million spent on it and will be
using brand new buildings from September. Gladstone School tells me
that they only approached Braintcroft to assess
their interest last week! Neither Our Lady of Grace nor the Jewish
school will act as a feeder school to Gladstone. It’s also very unlikely
that Braintcroft would, as they feed to Crest and to schools in
Wembley. What that means is that the pupils attending
Gladstone would be unlikely to be local children who could or would
walk to Gladstone School. Again, the 2005 Brent Council report clearly
stated this.
The small
primary school at the bottom of Parkside does cause some issues with
traffic
and parking at the beginning and end of the school day, as pupils
travel from a distance. That school is, however a very good neighbour
indeed and works hard to alleviate the difficulties. However, as part of
their own small planning application, further double
yellow lines will be put on Parkside.
The proposed
site has no access roads. Parkside and Oxleys Road are both cul de sacs.
Extending Parkside would mean encroaching into the park, and extending
Oxleys Road would mean traffic, including construction traffic driving
directly through a quiet residential housing estate.
The Open Space
is not served by tubes or busses. When Brent assessed the land
in 2005,
it scored the lowest possible mark for transport using the PTAL rating,
which measures non car accessibility in general. That study also said
that the railway line bordering the site made it difficult for primary
schools in the south of the borough to get
to the Open Space. , Those are the schools that Gladstone School has
canvassed and where any interest seems to lie. There are no direct bus
routes. The 226 serves the south side of the park and is infrequent,
requiring changing to other bus routes to reach
most of south Brent. The 232 on Dollis Hill Lane is
also infrequent and serves the St Raphael’s Estate and
Brent Cross. There’s a railway line, but that’s a goods and freight
service, which also happens to carry waste as well as fuel to Heathrow
Airport.
The school
also claims they were asked by Brent Council not to campaign for the
site
and thus stir up local feeling. I find that hard to credit and have
asked for confirmation from Brent officers. They also claim to have
consulted widely: surely those claims are contradictory?
The school is
now petitioning for Brent Council to consult on the proposed school. It
actually isn’t down to Brent Council, for once, to consult with
residents about the school and its location. That can’t happen until a
formal planning application is sent to the council. It’s up to the
school to talk to local people, and that’s been sadly
lacking. I’m a local resident. I wasn’t contacted. I know that
Braintcroft, for example, were only contacted last week. I’ve also been
told that Gladstone School has been contacting schools outside Dollis
Hill for two years.
As I said at
the outset, this isn’t about the existence of the school, this is about
proposals to use a location which is not only utterly unsuitable for
the school, but deeply damaging to our community. I’ve rarely seen such a
depth of anger and disquiet here. We love our green space and want it
left for us and succeeding generations. Once
it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
