FREE SCHOOL FIGHT: WE’LL GO TO COURT

Published: September 1, 2011
by DAN CARRIER

PARENTS are threatening court action against the Town Hall in a last-minute attempt to stop the sale of buildings they want to use as a new “free school”.

They believe a drastic legal case could stop the sale of hostels in Fitzjohns Avenue and Maresfield Gardens, Belsize Park.

Camden Council wants to “dispose” of the properties to raise money to renovate existing schools and council homes.

But the Belsize Free School campaign believes the site is the perfect solution to problems caused by a shortage of classroom places in the area.

A meeting of senior Labour councillors next week is expected to rubber-stamp plans to put the hostels on the private market.

Objectors say the Town Hall must back down and delay its decision until later this month when the Department of Education (DofE) will announce if it is to back the ­Belsize Park free school plan.

Free schools have been a source of controversy, with critics claiming the government’s push to create a wave of new primaries and secondaries will divert funds and resources away from existing schools.

Belsize Park free school campaigner Harriet Nowell-Smith said: “We could issue an injunction to make the council wait for the Department of Education’s decision. We would prefer not to have to do this – it would be a waste of public funds – and we hope they will be reasonable and wait.

“But if they do not we will take the issue to the courts. The Department of Education have some capital funding and so we could even buy the buildings for the same price the council would get privately.”

Council chiefs say the sell-off will provide much-needed funds – estimated to be as much as £6million – to renovate  rundown buildings.

Labour finance chief Councillor Theo Blackwell said he had “every sympathy” with parents who did not get children into their first-choice schools.

But he added: “The Department of Education have given no indication they will be offering anywhere near the sum of money we would be able to get for our plans to upgrade council housing. They had 16 months to speak to us about this and have not done so, and we simply can’t afford to give the site away at knock-down prices.

“Financially, our backs are against the wall. We have to look very carefully at how we manage council assets. Unfortunately, it means we have to balance our priorities.

“Taking legal action against the council trying to operate under limited budgets is both a waste of taxpayers’ money and their own.”

One free school has already got the green light. St Luke’s School, in Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead, run by the Church of England, was among projects approved by the DofE on Friday.

Meanwhile, the council has plans to open a primary school in a new development in West Hampstead, although members recognise it would not be completed until 2015.

Campaigners say a new school in Belsize Park is vital, due to a lack of places in the area’s primaries. They expect the DofE to pay almost £1m a year to run a school which would provide a minimum of 13 new jobs. It would also pay between £1.5m and £2m to renovate school buildings, as well as potentially paying the council rent or buying the former hostels outright. 

A letter to the Town Hall from Belsize Free School campaigners, seen by the New Journal, tells the council: “We think it is unreasonable of you not to wait a few weeks to see whether this package is offered to you.”

If the new school is set up, it would offer a one-form class of 24 pupils.