Putney Labour Demands Elliott School Rethink

Proposing the new primary school share Elliott site

Putney Labour Party is calling on Wandsworth Council to stop its sale of the Elliott School playing fields as not being value for money, while depriving increasing numbers of pupils of a much-needed resource.

The Council already has some of the largest cash reserves in London, and rather than sell the land, the Council could place the proposed primary school at the Putney Hospital site there, allowing extra revenue for the school refurbishment to be raised from additional house building where the hospital now stands. The proposal would also leave land available for use by Elliott School at its own site.

Councillor Peter Carpenter, who made this proposal to the Council’s public consultation, said: “The Council needs to think ahead. The playing fields under threat are an asset not only for the current pupils and their wellbeing, but for the increased numbers we will see at the school later this decade. This alternative is a practical option that the Council should fully investigate.”

Estimates show that the current high demand in primary school places will spread to secondary schools in a couple of years as the current baby boomers grow. All current school capacity in Wandsworth will be filled by 2020.

Any additional refurbishment funding could be raised by other means such as the recent disposal by the Council of the Eltringham Street Depot, which raised nearly £20m, and other land disposals are in the pipeline.

The consultation is now closed and any views you may have can be made to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove at ministers@education.gsi.gov.uk, who will decide whether land can be sold in June, or to English Heritage at london@english-heritage.org.uk, which must agree because the building is currently protected by its Grade II listing.

May 28, 2012