An excellent new school for Lambeth

Since early 2009 Lambeth Council has been talking to residents about the shortage of secondary school places in the borough and what we are doing to address this issue.

We have been communicating about plans to build a new secondary school in Tulse Hill and to also provide a new school building for Fenstanton Primary School.

A team of Council officers conducted face-to-face consultation with residents, calling to discuss the project in the neighbourhood surrounding the proposed site. We have also been communicating through newsletters, via telephone and through a specially set up email address.

• We called on 2,100 homes and interviewed 590 residents.
• 80 per cent agreed that children should be able to go to a secondary school close to home and 70 per cent agreed that this sort of regeneration would be of benefit to the local area.
• We also invited residents who we called on to local events to discuss the proposals further. We held 5 events and many issues were discussed in detail about the project.

You can download the Consultation Report compiled by a firm of independent consultation experts on how the council conducted this consultation exercise.

Since the consultation exercise was completed the council has been working with local residents and stakeholders in conjunction with a masterplanning firm employed to address the issues raised and work on an Outline planning application.

The outline planning application has now been submitted to the planning authority.

You can view the Outline planning application online. It is also available to view at the St Martin's estate office on Upper Tulse Hill along with an exhibition explaining the process and the proposals. This exhibition will also be on display at Fenstanton Primary School.    

Lambeth Council is planning to:

• Build a new secondary school on Christchurch Road, Tulse Hill.

A major part of these plans will include:

• A rebuilt Fenstanton primary school
• New community and youth facilities

Why are we planning to do this?

• Lambeth Council is committed to providing additional secondary school places, so that local children can attend a secondary school closer to home.
• Fenstanton Primary School buildings are some of the worst condition primary school buildings in Lambeth.
• There is a shortage of secondary school places in Lambeth.
• Lambeth only has enough secondary school places for 13 out of every 20 children living in the borough.
• The shortage of places means many local children travel long distances either inside or outside the borough to go to secondary school.
• Friends who have been through primary school together are separated when they attend different secondary schools.
• When Lambeth's Building Schools for the Future programme is completed, there will be over 3,700 new places at Lambeth schools.

What will the project mean for the area?

• A brand new secondary school to serve the local area
• A fully rebuilt Fenstanton Primary School
• Community access to the schools e.g. the sports hall, assembly hall and music facilities
• Community accessible sports and changing facilities on the 'Dip' site
• Community and youth provision on the 'Dip' site
• No loss of open space around the existing school site
• Most of the trees on the site retained and new trees where they have to be lost
• No loss of trees outside of the school site
• Quieter parts of the schools located near closest neighbours
• Improved pedestrian crossings over Christchurch Road
• Potential for improving bus services along Christchurch Road
• Close working between the housing associations and the council to manage the impacts of additional school children in the local area.

What happens next

Stage 1: This Outline Planning Application

The current Outline Planning Application sets out key principles for the layout of the site (e.g. minimum distance of buildings from neighbours and maximum building heights), demonstrates that the proposals can work and illustrates one way that the schools and their external areas could be arranged on the site.

Stage 2: The detailed design

The second detailed design stage will work up proposals for the two schools in accordance with these key principles. This allows time for briefs to be written setting out the full educational requirements for each school. This work will commence in 2010.

Stakeholder and community consultation will be undertaken at both stages of the work and both will be consulted on and formalised through the planning application process. We will also keep you informed through this process via newsletters and on the Lambeth website.

We hope the primary school and additional new community facilities will be completed by 2012 and the secondary school by 2014.

You can contact the Building Schools for the Future team excellentschool@lambeth.gov.uk or call: 020 7926 3208 or write to:

Building Schools for the Future,
Lambeth Council,
6th floor,
International House,
Canterbury Crescent,
London SW9 7QE.

Visit our Building Schools for the Future webpages for further information or email: bsfenquiries@lambeth.gov.uk.