VictoriaMills

I want to be clear that there is no doubt about the council's commitment to deliver a school on the Dulwich Hospital site. The idea that the council would stand in the way of the delivery of a secondary school on planning policy grounds is absurd and I think suggesting such a thing is irresponsible, especially in the face of so much local concern and support for the delivery of a new school. I have therefore written to James expressing concern about points he is making on this forum alongside the increasing number of emails I am receiving and conversations I am having with local residents concerned about the issues being raised here. As this is an issue of huge public interest and as much of the debate has been conducted in public forums, in the interest of transparency I have placed the letter in the public domain and it is cut and pasted below. I hope the detail in the letter answers many of the concerns being raised here. Cllr Victoria Mills Cabinet Member for Children and Schools Labour Councillor for Peckham Rye ward Dear James I?m writing to ask that you to join myself and local Labour councillors in our calls on the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister for Schools to ensure that the part of the Dulwich Hospital site not needed for a health centre is bought by the Education Funding Agency for a secondary school. My position is that this is the key to unlocking the site for a much needed local secondary school and to preventing that school being compromised by also trying to squeeze a primary school onto the same site. I welcome the work you have done in supporting the Harris East Dulwich Primary free school and also your support for a new secondary school in East Dulwich. However, I am concerned at the role you are now playing in the debate about the future use of the hospital site. In particular, your recent correspondence with the Minister for Schools is deeply damaging to our community securing the secondary school it needs. I also believe it is misleading local residents who deserve only the best possible leadership from councillors. Potential purchase of hospital site by EFA In your letter to David Laws you stated that the Education Funding Agency ?could not afford to buy the recommended quantity of land? for a secondary school unless the site is ?re zoned? for educational use. The council has facilitated communication between the EFA and the NHS about the hospital site and the EFA has made it clear they are confident they will be able to secure this site for a new school. Contrary to your suggestion, there is absolutely nothing in our planning designation that will prevent the sale of the land to the EFA going through and the EFA have never raised any concerns about our planning policy for the site. Dulwich SPD The most up to date planning policy document for Dulwich, the Dulwich Supplementary Planning Document which was adopted earlier this year, has a very clear statement of the uses which the council will consider to be acceptable for the hospital site in an order of priority of health, school, community uses and then housing (with an emphasis on affordable housing) if any space remains. This gives a very clear indication of the uses which the council will permit and clearly prioritises a school. As such, it should help to temper expectations of the value of the site, should the EFA see this as a concern (which they have not to date). Revising the SPD would be a long process which is not necessary or helpful in securing this site for a new secondary school. The only problem we have encountered with the EFA purchase of the hospital site is of course their current intention to buy the site for both the Harris Nunhead Primary Free School as well as for a secondary school. New Southwark Plan The council?s draft New Southwark Plan states that the council?s preference for the hospital site is for a health centre and a secondary school. This is a clear statement of our intent for the site to provide a well-resourced secondary school, rather than trying to squeeze both a primary and secondary school onto the site. However, neither this plan nor a revised SPD would ultimately stop the purchase of land for a primary school nor would they stop an applicant trying to secure planning permission for one. It is irresponsible to suggest that they would. It is deeply misleading to local residents that you are presenting this as an easy fix ? it is not. It is also reducing pressure on the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister for Schools at the very moment we all need to be united in asking for them to secure the site for a secondary school alone. 520 Lordship Lane You have requested that the council designate 520 Lordship Lane (former Harvester pub) for education use, to enable the Harris Nunhead Primary free school to open on this site. We are already investigating the merits of using this site for education but the case for doing this can?t just be to find a site for a Harris Nunhead Primary free school, not least because a school on this site would not be a school for Nunhead children. Our primary places planning for both Dulwich and Nunhead suggests that the two forms of entry that a Harris Nunhead Primary would provide will not be needed in Nunhead or in Dulwich. You will be aware that a variety of expansions have or will take place ? at Ivydale and Bessemer Grange and new schools such as Harris East Dulwich and the Belham free school are also providing additional places. I acknowledge that some local parents still feel their school choices are limited. However, if this site was to be considered for a new school I think it would be imperative that local residents be consulted on the proposals before any designation was made. I also understand that the Gipsy Hill Federation is considering this site as a potential site for the secondary school it has submitted a free school application for. In addition many in the community would like to see the pub on the site brought back into use. Rather than simply seeing this site as yet another easy fix, we need to ensure that there is broad and careful consideration given to all of the potential options for its future and that the option which is pursued has both strong support and delivers the maximum possible benefits to the local community. New Nunhead Primary School In searching for an easy fix, you have failed to mention the most obvious one. That is, that having failed to identify a site in Nunhead and having failed to work with the council to plan a school that meets the needs of Nunhead children, both Harris and the EFA should now work with the council to identify where we need primary places in Southwark and where there might be sites to meet this need. As a councillor representing part of Nunhead, and with my Peckham Rye and Nunhead colleagues, we have for some time, predating the Harris free school application, been working on the plans to expand Ivydale School. These plans are popular and well supported by the south Nunhead community. They meet a clear need and mean that more local children will secure places at an oversubscribed school. Crucially they also have a site in Nunhead. Rather than talking down a local school as it embarks on an exciting development and talking up the importance of 'more choice? for Nunhead parents I would ask that you now respect the views of a community that you do not represent. There has never been any doubt about the council's commitment to deliver a school on the Dulwich Hospital site. The idea that the council would stand in the way of the delivery of a secondary school on planning policy grounds is plainly absurd and to suggest such a thing is irresponsible, especially in the face of so much local concern and support for the delivery of a new school. I therefore end by asking that you now use your position as a community leader to join me in pushing for what will actually deliver a high quality secondary school on the hospital site ? a commitment from the DfE and EFA to secure the hospital site for a secondary school alone. I would urge you to support the community petition to the Minister for Schools to protect this site for a secondary school and I would urge you to use your standing and respect in the East Dulwich community to encourage local residents to do the same. As this is an issue of huge public interest and as much of the debate has been conducted in public forums, in the interest of transparency I will be placing this letter in the public domain.