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Victorian school building can meet needs of today
• CAMDEN Council have made the right decision in refusing South Hampstead Girls School permission to knock down their handsome Victorian building (School’s £30m scheme dismissed, October 16).
Local resident and architect Dr Mayer Hillman is quite right in saying that it adds to the area.
And it could be made to look even better if they were proud of it.
Theirs is a handsome building, apparently in good condition.
With sensitive refurbishment it could probably still be around in another 100 years’ time.
These days when we must all be concerned about sustainability and the environment it seems wasteful and wanton to demolish it.
The energy involved in making and transporting the materials would all be lost, as well as the evidence of craftsmanship of our predecessors.
Including a biomass boiler in the new building would be scant consolation.
This is not the sort of lesson they should be giving their students.
Far better would be to show how the building can be sensitively updated and refurbished to suit modern requirements. Many other schools have done so.
The students of South Hampstead Girls School would then know that our wonderful historic buildings are not incompatible with a green future.
And what a good education that would be.
DR IAN DUNGAVELL
Director, The Victorian Society, W4
There are objectors to the scheme
• JENNY Stephen, the head of South Hampstead Girls School, is misinformed when she talks about local support for the school’s recent planning application.
The Netherhall Neighbourhood Association, Hampstead Conservation Area Advisory Committee and many local residents sent objections to Camden about this application.
It is definitely not “supported by the wider community” as claimed.
PATRICIA ORWELL
via email
Strong views on designs
• JENNY Stephen, South Hampstead High School’s headteacher is quoted in your paper as being “very heartened by the support we received from the wider community over our plans” (School’s £30m scheme dismissed, October 16).
She is at best seriously misguided if not disingenuous in her interpretation of its views.
The implication of her statement is that there were few objections to the proposed demolition of the Grade II-listed Victorian school in Maresfield Gardens and to the subsequent major development on the site.
As far as the demolition is concerned, Camden’s committee report includes the following informed observations: English Heritage registered “strong objections” and the conservation area advisory committee stated that “it is highly regrettable that No 3 Maresfield Gardens, a distinguished building that makes a valuable contribution to the conservation area, is the one selected for demolition”.
The Heath and Hampstead Society expressed “reservations on several issues, notably the demolition of the existing building”.
The local Netherhall Neighbourhood Association submission listed a variety of objections, especially to the demolition.
None of these could be interpreted as endorsements of the proposal!
Most, if not all, comments on the design of the new buildings, other than those of the applicants, were derogatory. One has only to read those detailed in Camden’s planning officer’s report for verification of this. The conservation area advisory committee disagreed with the architect’s claim that “the proposed replacement was a new building of architectural excellence”; The NNA said that it would be “out of keeping with the style of buildings in the neighbourhood”. (Incidentally, Ms Stephen states that she heard “nothing from residents’ associations” but a copy of this submission was sent to her.)
She asserts that there was “only one letter of objection from a resident”. In fact, there were numerous letters of objection from individual residents for similar reasons. These were obviously sent to Camden rather than to the school, though, not surprisingly, their number was well exceeded by those supporting the school’s plans, clearly reflecting a view that the existing facilities are inadequate for the needs of a school, the pupil roll of which has been deliberately allowed to grow over the last few decades well beyond that for which it was originally designed.
I am no longer an architect.
After 13 years in architectural practice in Hampstead, I left the profession 42 years ago!
DR MAYER HILLMAN
Netherhall Gardens, NW3
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