Please click these to share awareness and click these to follow the campaign

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Council press ahead with Lake Farm school plans

Posted by Jack Griffith on 1st November 2011 in Local Authority, uxbridgegazette.co.uk,:

"HILLINGDON Council is pressing ahead with controversial plans to build a primary school in Lake Farm Country Park.

At last Thursday's cabinet meeting at the civic centre, members were told the proposed site, off Botwell Lane, Hayes, had already been surveyed and several contractors had shown an interest.

Once further site visits and studies have been completed, different construction options and price tenders will be considered.

The plans are due to take shape and be signed off by the council's cabinet 'early in 2012'.

The council hopes to have the new school open by September 2014.

When the news of the Lake Farm school proposals broke in July it caused outrage in the community and among councillors, who vowed to fight the threat to Green Belt land. But at last week's meeting, the leader of the council, Ray Puddifoot, said: "We will not fail those children down in Hayes. They will not be educated in church halls and the like."

Depending on how many forms of entry the school would have - likely to be between three and five - the school could take a five-acre slice out of the country park, which was awarded a Green Flag in 2006 and is a haven for many species of birds and other wildlife.

Botwell councillor and leader of the Labour Group, Mo Khursheed, said in response: "A school has to be built somewhere, but do we need to give up our green space to do it? Is this going to be a one-off, or will more Green Belt be given over to development as a result of this. I have asked time and time again for a list of the other sites considered for the school, but have yet to get a definitive answer.

"It's moving quickly because they need to try and get through all the red tape to meet the 2014 deadline, but there is a lot of opposition.""

No comments:

Post a Comment