Posted 27 November 2010 - 11:51 AM
I went along to the viewing of the plans on Wednesday evening and I share a lot of the concerns that Green Man has raised. Wolfington Road already has major traffic congestion problems and putting a school there will only make it worse. Not only that but it will reduce the amount of parking space already available on the road as parking will not be possible outside the school. It will also increase the traffic on surrounding roads, particularly St. Julian's Farm Road, which will become even more of a rat run as it it will be the main road that links the two sites of the school. They say they are carrying out a traffic survey of the area to establish what the travel levels currently are.
The head of St. Julian's and the council rep were trying to convince us that because the school will have such a local catchment area that children are more likely to walk there. That's not going to happen on cold winter mornings and when parents are rushing to get to work and it is well known that many children are driven to school. There are also plenty of children who are driven to school at the existing Julian's school site and the new site will be primarily for little ones who can't walk very far.
The other concern is that there is currently a footpath from Wolfington Road to the Norwood hall site. As this runs close to what would be classroom windows we were asked what we thought of this footpath being closed off. Those of us there expressed our resistance and said the footpath needs to stay especially if the development of the Norwood Hall site goes ahead, particularly for disabled access. We were told this pathway is not a public right of way but I have subsequently found out it might be a permitted right of way.
We were told there is no other site that is suitable, although the reason given for not using the Travis Perkins site was because this is being considered for something else (I assume part of the master plan). We were told the vacant site next to Big Yellow was not big enough, but would be if it included the Big Yellow site. So it seems there are other sites, but not ones that are as cheap or as quick to turn into a school.
I also raised the lack of consultation that there had been over this development. They seemed to take this on board and said they will think about doing more. I was informed there would be other consultations at the planning stage.
I totally appreciate the need for new primary school places and a new site in the area and recognise the greater benefits it may bring to West Norwood. However I feel this is the wrong site, mainly because of the traffic issues but also what Green Man has said about the site being very cramped with little outside space. There are other sites, which might cost more and take longer to develop, but surely what is most important is that we get a new school that fits the needs of our children and local residents.
I would urge residents, particularly those living close to the proposed site, to be aware of what is being proposed. What would accompany a new school on this site would be traffic pollution, noise pollution and an increase in rubbish. This will be amplified if the proposed development of Norwood Hall also occurs as footfall and traffic will increase dramatically. So to have two major developments in close proximity will have a huge impact on the local residents.
I have to say the whole event on Wednesday was not helped by the female architect present who was completely defensive over the design and plans and seemingly totally uninterested or concerned about our views. It felt like having to do this consultation was a huge irritation to her and she totally put local residents backs up.
