North Kingston residents concerned at council plans to build a five-storey secondary school in Richmond Road now have until September 14 to make their views known, after the deadline was extended by 28 days.
The council hopes to build the new 1,200 pupil secondary school, which some residents have spent a decade campaigning for, on the current North Kingston Centre site, with a 480-student sixth form located at the Hawker Centre in Lower Ham Road.
Tempers soared in a packed meeting for residents at the Hawker Centre On July 22, with boos and jeers ringing out when pictures of the proposed eight form “super-school” were displayed by council officers.
Former mayor of Kingston Frank Gaisford, who lives close to the Hawker Centre, said he believed the council’s plans were not legal as the potential sixth form site is designated Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) and cannot be used for education purposes under the council’s own planning policy.
MOL rules demand “no buildings or structures are erected that would prejudice the open character of the site, and that free access and enjoyment to the designated amenity area is preserved”.
But officers explained at the meeting that as long as they ensured the footprint of the new buildings was no bigger than those currently on the site, there was no legal problem in educating pupils there.
Residents can have their say on the proposals by visiting kingston.gov.uk/secondary_expansion.
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