Only a quarter of places at the new Neasden Lane High School will be available for children in the immediate area

The new school on Neasden Lane

My question tabled for the Council meeting to be held on Monday July 13th. The School Places Planning document suggested that most pressure for additional secondary forms of entry will be in the north of Brent so a north Brent school makes sense,  but this one will be in the south of the borough and involve commuting by 75% of the pupils. According to Google Maps the motoring distance between the two sites is 4 miles.

Question from Martin Francis to Councillor Amar Agha, Cabinet Member for Schools, Employment & Skills

There was some confusion at the Planning Committee that approved the new North Brent School in Neasden Lane (School number 11 on map) about the catchment area of the new school. Pupils currently attending the North Brent School on the Wembley campus of Wembley High School Academy Trust will transfer when the new school opens. Is it the intention to have a North Brent catchment area for the school as it admits more year groups, or will the catchment area extend to the Neasden/Harlesden/Stonebridge area? What will be the geographical admission criteria for the new school?

Response: The Wembley Academy Trust, as the overarching Trust of which the North Brent School is a part, acts as its own admissions authority and as such publishes its own admissions arrangements, including catchment areas. The current admissions arrangements for North Brent School are published on their website and set out the following as part of the oversubscription criteria:

·75% of places will be offered to children who live closest to Wembley High Technology College. (School number 16 on map)

Distance will be measured using a straight-line measurement from the main entrance of Wembley High Technology College to the main entrance of the child’s home.

 ·25% of places will be offered to children who live closest to the permanent site of North Brent School. Distance will be measured using a straight-line measurement from the main entrance of North Brent School to the main entrance of the child’s home.

 In terms of future admissions arrangements, as Wembley Academy Trust acts as its own admissions authority, this is a question that should be put to the Trust directly. We can confirm however that the Trust has engaged proactively with the wider community in establishing current admissions arrangements and has committed to continue to do so in any changes proposed to future admissions arrangements.

Sudbury Town Station planning application rejected, Ujima House and North Brent School approved

After a lengthy discussion Brent Planning Committee again rejected the TfL application for a development of 'pocket homes' on the car park at Sudbury Town Station. Despite a £600k offer by the developer towards the build costs of 6 three bedroomed homes outside the area, the committee stuck to their original objection on grounds of lack of family homes for the site itself,  the loss of the car park and its impact on acessiblity for people with protected characteristics; and the applications lack of compliance with Local and London plans. Three members of the public and two councillors made very persuasive presentations opposing the application.

Cllr Denselow abstained. Cllrs Hylton and Chappel voted for the application and the four other committee members against.

The Ujima House discussion was a real mish mash.  The owner of Lanmore House and Jaine Lunn occupant of a neighbouring house on Ecclestone Place, were represented and it emerged that a 'letter before claim' against the Council, who are the developer, had been issued. The committee were told by the Council legal officer that the Council had complied with all regulations and that appeared to be the end of that.

Inaccuracies in the officers' report were highlighted concerning the height of the building and the number of windows in adjoining buildings affected, and the committee were told that the architect had failed to get back to the Council about a query, but all this was deftly passed over.  The issue of a weight restriction of 15 tons on the entrance to Ecclestone Place was brushed aside with an assurance that if necessary lorries could access the site from Wembley High Road (traffic jams!)

The committee were told that this was just an outline application and detailed issues could be dealt with at a later date.

The application was approved.

The Executive Headteacher of the Wembley Multi-Academy Trust after initial zoom problems gave a confident presentation on its plans for a new school on Neasden Lane, currently called North Brent School, although it is on the south side of the North Circular.

However, after she had left the meeting some confusion arose over the catchment area of the school as it emerged that pupils would be travelling to the site from North Wembley as the school is currently housed on the Wembley High School site.  The new site would open at the end of 2021 so the children on the current site would have to travel down. One officer muttered something about issue of the school  catchment should have come up earlier and councillors seemed unsure if the new school when fully open would serve the local area or continue to be populated by pupils from the North Wembley area.   Clearly it would be better in terms of Green School Travel Plans if the catchment was local and the area does lack its own non-denominational school.

The new school will be 6 forms of entry so will generate a lot of trips and transport was the main issue discussed. An earlier plan to have 4 coaches travel down to the school from North Wembley had been opposed by TfL and was reduced to one, so pupils will have to travel by public transport either  on the tube, by bus or by cycle. The 297 route would be beefed up in consultation with TfL and the 245 was also mentioned but that only goes as far as Neasden shopping centre before turning off towards Staples Corner. One councillor raised concerns about children from different schools milling around at the Neasden interchange where there were already problems.

It appears that on one side of the borough we will have children travelling north from Harlesden and Stonebridge to Ark Elvin and on the other children travelling south from North Wembley to Neasden Lane!

The one decision made (apart from  approving the application) was to  call for 172 cycle parking places to be provided in the initial phase of the building. No one queried whether cycling to the school would be safe.

Recording of Committee HERE

Brent Council says air quality is not a problem for new school in Neasden Lane

Mayor of London on Clean Air

In a previous posting LINK I raised concerns about the siting of a new school in Neasden Lane because of its history of poor air quality which in the past have been raised in Parliamemt by then MP Sarah Teather and with the GLA through Mayor's Question Time. At one stage pollution levels were in clear breach of EU regulations. The monitoring site was one of those which Boris Johnson, when London Mayor, was accused of 'fixing' by the installation of dust suppressants at the monitoring station.

Brent Council has taken action to 'clean up' the pollution  LINK but has admitted that more needs to be done.

I should make it clear that I am not against a new secondary school in the Harlesden area, there has long been a campaign for a community secondary school there, but I am raising questions about the specific site chosen.  This is particularly important when Brent Council through Brent Breathes is setting out to improve air quality near existing schools and cites particular issues when existing schools are on busy roads. Full Brent Breathes Report HERE see section on schools.

Planners have reacted to the Wembley Matters article with the following statement in a supplementary report presented to tonight's Planning Committee.  There are also supplementary reports for the Sudbury Town and Ujima House planning appplications.

Air Quality

The site falls within an AQMA a recent publication by Wembley Matters raised concern with allowing a new school in an area with poor air quality, particularly an open roof MUGA. As discussed in the main body of the report, the application site has been identified as being one of the ones in the borough suitable to accommodate a school. 

The London Plan places great emphasis on the importance of tackling air pollution and improving air quality. It therefore states that development proposals should minimise exposure to existing poor air quality and make provision to address local problems of air quality such as by design solutions, buffer zones or steps to promote greater use of sustainable transport modes. 

The development makes a particular contribution through promoting greater use of sustainable transport modes. The existing Chancel House site currently benefits from a large car parking area with 189 car parking spaces. Under the proposed scheme only 11 spaces are to be retained. To further discourage car use to the site a travel plan is to be secured via the s106 agreement to promote walking and cycling to the site. Sustainable transport modes are also promoted through on site cycle parking provision and the contribution to TfL for local bus services. 

As required by the London Plan, the application has been accompanied by an Air Quality Assessment and an Air Quality Neutral Assessment. The submitted Air Quality Assessment concludes that air quality levels would not exceed air quality objectives when the site is operational, with the Air Quality Neutral Assessment confirming that the development is better than air quality neutral in terms of both transport and building emissions. 

The submission therefore demonstrates that air quality in the area will not have an adverse impact on the proposed school, and that the proposed development will not worsen air quality.

North Brent School (Neasden Lane) planning application at Planning Committee next Wednesday

The proposed building on Neasden Lane

Chancel House

The school plan

The planning application for the new school in Neasden lane (currently, rather confusingly called North Brent School) goes to the on-line Planning Committee on Wednesday June 10th. LINK

The school will be part of the Wembley High School Academy Trust and some children are expected to travel down from the north of Brent and from Wembley High itself, as well as from Harlesden and neighbouring areas.  There has been some parental demand for a secular secondary school in the area in the past and Brent Council's pupil projections indicate the need for two more secondary schools - although that may change post-Brexit and post-Covid.

The building design looks like many of the period and there is more outdoor space than schools such as Michaela.  However, one of these spaces is a Muga (multi-use games area) on the school roof overlooking Neasden Lane.

Those familiar with the area know that Neasden Lane is one of the most polluted roads in Brent and also has heavy vehicles, including skip trucks, accessing the industrial area between the proposed school and the station.

Industrial area off Neasden Lane

Wembley Matters has already expressed concern about the proposed Ark Somerville, with a roof top playground overlooking a busy road, and this application follows a similar pattern. The question arises is why, when the Council is attempting to mitigate the impact of air pollution on existing schools, is it permitting the building of new schools on polluted roads?

The answer is partly the lack of other suitable sites and also the desire to build near transport links. There is little in the officers' report about air pollution but the Velocity Active Transport report looks at the routes to the school:

Route 1
This route connects the site to the residential areas located north of the Dudden Hill Lane / Neasden Lane roundabout. This route also connects the site to Neasden Underground Station north of the proposed development.
Clean air – According to the London Air Quality Network, this section of the carriageway fails the annual mean objective for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution indicating unacceptable air quality. This is likely due to the high volume of vehicles that travel along this main road. An investigation could be done into how the timing controls at the junction along Neasden Lane could be improved to reduce exposure to air pollution from motor vehicles. 

Route 2
This route connects the site to the residential areas located east and west of Church Road, southwest of the proposed development.
Clean air – According to the London Air Quality Network, this section of the carriageway fails the annual mean objective for NO2 air pollution indicating unacceptable air quality. This is likely due to the high volume of vehicles that travel along this main road. An investigation could be done into how the timing controls at the junction could be improved to reduce exposure to air pollution from motor vehicles. Adding some planter boxes with low level planting would also help mitigate the impact of air pollution. 

Route 3
This route connects the site to bus stops (Willesden Magistrates Court) on High Road southeast of the proposed development.
Clean air – According to the London Air Quality Network, this section of the carriageway fails the annual mean objective for NO2 air pollution indicating unacceptable air quality. This is likely due to the four signalised junctions. An investigation could be done into how the timing controls at the junction could be improved to reduce exposure to air pollution from motor vehicles. Adding some planter boxes with low level planting would also help mitigate the impact of air pollution. 

Route 4
This route connects the residential area beyond Dollis Hill underground station the east of the proposed development. This route also connects the site to the bus stop on Dudden Hill Lane (Chapter Road stop DK and DG).
Clean air – According to the London Air Quality Network, this section of carriageway fails the annual mean objective for NO2 air pollution indicating that the air quality is unacceptable. This is likely due to the high level of traffic present in this area. To further reduce air pollution, improved footway infrastructure could be introduced to encourage walking

I don't find the mitigation proposals very convincing but more worrying is not the walk to school but the exposure to pollution of both staff and pupils over a long period while in the school and its grounds.  The school building is closer to the main road than Chancel House, but the report states that these will be the 'noisy areas', with classrooms towards the back.

A proposal in original plans that 4 coaches should transport children from the north of Brent to the school in the morning and back again in the afternoon has been reduced to one after opposition from TfL and £750,000 will be paid to them to improve existing bus routes.  The 297 route is on Neasden Lane itself, 260 and 266 on Willesden High Road, and 226 and 302 on Dudden Hill Lane. Neasden Station on the Jubilee line is close by.

The proposal includes space for staff and pupil cycle parking (up to 172 for pupils)g but I challenge the planners to attempt to cycle from the Civic Centre to Chancel House and, if they survive,  report back on the experience.

Apart from the obvious positive of a brand new secondary school for Brent children, is that in an area without many mature trees, the landmark willow on the bend of Neasden Lane will be retained.

Brent Council plans for accommodating higher secondary pupil numbers via academy expansion

It is one of the ironies of Government policy that Labour Brent Council has the duty to provide school places in  the borough but not the means to do so through building its own schools. The bulge that has been moving through primary schools in now entering the secondary sector. Secondary rolls will rise as primary rolls fall.

All Brent secondary schools are now either academies or faith schools, with none under the direct control of the local authority so the Council has to negotiate with them to provide extra places or rely on additional free school provision.

Projected Numbers and Shortfall

The report going to Monday's Cabinet admits that projections are subject to external factors (such as the impact of Brexit) and so plans have some flexibility built in.

It is expected that 6 of the 10 forms of entry required for 2023/24 will be provided by the North Brent School, a free school which will be part of the Wembley Multi-Academy Trust with Wembley High Technology College. The North Brent School will open in September 2020 with four forms of entry on the Wembley High site but will increase to 6 forms of entry when it moves to the former Chancel House site in Neasden Lane in September 2022.

Due to fears that the new school will have a negative impact on other secondary schools in the Neasden area the North Brent School will have a proportion of its admission numbers allocated via proximity to Wembley High.

This leaves a four forms of entry gap for 2023-24 and the report puts forward two unnamed secondary academies for consideration to provide two additional forms of entry.  Four forms of entry at one site is rejected as too risky for one school. Temporary bulge classes, a solution in the primary sector, is rejected as not suitable to the different curriculum provision in secondary schools - pupils move to different specialist rooms rather than being in one classroom. The report claims that the temporary bulge classes would be as expensive to provide as additional permanent expansion.

So who will pay for the expansion? Extract from report LINK

5.0  Financial Implications

5.1  This report includes provision of additional mainstream and SEND secondary school places and approval to allocate capital funding is sought for both. There are two sources of grant funding available for mainstream and SEND school places.

5.2  The estimated cost of the mainstream school places is £31.3m and the SEND school places is £3.8m, making a combined estimated cost for the Secondary School Expansion Programme of £35.1m.

5.3  Capital investment is sought for the whole secondary school programme at £35.1m, noting that the Director of Finance will approve the allocation of capital from this total to individual projects within the programme on production of further detailed information. It is anticipated that this is a maximum total forecast cost, which could be reduced as the programme develops.

5.4  There are two sources of grant funding available for mainstream and SEND school places; Basic Need Capital Grant and Special Provision Capital Grant. Both are provided by Central Government for the provision of school places.

5.5  For the period 2011-2020 the Council has been allocated a total of £164.1m Basic Need Capital. After taking account of actual spend to date and current commitments, there is a balance available to allocate of £27.9m.

5.6  The local authority was allocated a total of £2.8m from the Special Provision Capital Grant specifically for the provision of SEND school places. £1.1m of this funding has been spent and/or committed. The remaining £1.7m is available to be allocated to this programme.

5.7  A total of £29.6m of secured capital grant funding is available. Based on the total estimated cost for this programme this leaves a funding gap of £5.5m.

5.8  In addition to work to reduce the estimated cost, officers have looked at potential additional sources of capital funding. In addition to the secured £29.6m, a further £11.8m may become available through other identified sources. These are capital contributions from council development projects where a portion of the capital receipt must be allocated for education purposes; those sums were previously allocated to school projects but have not yet been secured. Also from a commercial settlement on a live school expansion project. The council may also be allocated additional Basic Need capital from 2021 onwards but this is not confirmed. In the event that costs cannot be reduced and/or additional funding secured, the council would need to fund up to £5.5m.

5.9  It is proposed that all remaining unallocated capital grant is used to fund this programme. It is already known that there will be a requirement for further capital expenditure to provide SEND school places as detailed in the School Place Planning Strategy 2019-23 approved in November 2018. A feasibility study is currently underway for an additional SEND project. Proposals will be brought to Cabinet in the new year which will include proposed funding arrangements. Should requirements in the mainstream primary or secondary sectors change and require capital expenditure this would also create a funding pressure.

5.10  The revenue costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the expanded school buildings once completed will be the responsibility of each school, as will the additional staff and running costs. Mainstream schools are funded from the Schools Block of the DSG via the funding formula, which allocates funds on the basis of the prior year’s pupil numbers so there is a time lag and the Schools Forum may recommend top slicing the block to allocate more funding to support expanding schools. New in-borough SEND places will be funded from the High Needs Block of the DSG, but at lower cost than the likely alternative independent out of borough provisions.

'Various sources' is the answer with quite a lot of uncertainties involved. I am awaiting a reply from Brent Council to the following question:

As these schools are academies and not under local authority control with land and buildings on a long lease to the respective trusts, does capital funding by the authority, coming out of the Council’s budget, mean that the Council will now have a proportional capital interest in the school?  Or is it just added to the Trust’s assets?

Further is there any possibility that the DfE itself could contribute to the capital costs via the EFA?

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New secondary school for Willesden

Chancel House

Gail Tolley, Director of Children and Young People's Service in Brent, confirmed yesterday that a new 6 forms of entry secondary school will be built on the site of Chancel House, Neasden Lane. It will be a free school with Wembley High Technology College, an academy, as its sponsor.

Originally it was intended to refurbish the redundant DWP building, Chancel House (above) to accommodate the school but the Education Funding Agency (EFA) decided demolition and new build was preferable.

A new secondary school south of the North Circular Road has long been a demand from  residents in Willesden, Harlesden and Church End following the closure of Sladebrook High School. Neasden High School,also closed, was just on the other side of the North Circular, on that section of Neasden Lane.  Parents made the case for a school which will be at the heart of the local community. Brent Council decided not to go ahead with a possible secondary school on the Bridge Park-Unisys site as part of the regeneration. The school has the project name of North Brent School LINK but this will obviously be revised.

Interestingly Gail Tolley said that the site had been considered by the EFA for the ill-fated (and expensive to the public) Gladstone Free School. LINK

Neasden Lane suffers from poor air quality some quite heavy truck truck movements. LINK

As the primary 'bulge' moves through into secondary schools more places will be needed and the local authority is working with  academies regarding expansion. As academies they are independent of the local authority and cannot be forced to expand.

There is of course some uncertainty over the future of Brent's European families regarding Brexit and this will need to be taken into account in school places planning.

The EFA has also approved a Free Special School to be set up by the Brent Special Academy Trust on a site in the Avenue and has again opted for demolition of the existing building and building of a new school.  At present many children are transported outside the borough due to the lack of special provision in Brent.

Responding to the plateau in reception primary school applications and vacancies in some school the Ark Somerville Primary, which will be built on the car park of York House, has been reduced to 2 forms of entry. LINK