Another wonderful contribution to the petition...

I am writing with regard to Richmond Borough Councils proposal for the redevelopment of Strathmore School and the Russell School and the sale of the redundant site, currently, partially in public consultation. I am a local resident, living on Clifford Road. References: www.richmond.gov.uk/sen_consultation 

I am very concerned that the process of consultation taking place does not allow a fair and thorough public consultation on the full project and its impact on the surrounding community. Please find below the e-mail I have sent to Richmond council which highlights my concerns. 

I attended the consultation meeting on Monday 11th February as I wanted to have the chance to hear all the information before writing. I am concerned that the consultation process is too narrow for a project of this scale. From the online questionnaire and the speakers on Monday night, local residents are at this stage only allowed to comment on whether they would like better provision for the educational needs of children in the borough with learning and in some cases physical disabilities. We would of course all want them to have the best facilities available. The project is far more reaching than this very emotive argument. My concerns are as follows: 
1. The initial consultation last year only consulted the parents of the Strathmore School. The impact of the changes being made are far more long term for the surrounding residents and community than for parents of a pupil who may attend the school for 5-7 years. The sale of the land and rebuilding of the Russell School will change a site in the heart of Petersham village for the local residents long term. Given the importance of this project and impact on the village, I find it divisive that the process is currently only being directed as educational need and that the time frames discussed on Monday night mean that by the time residents are allowed to comment on the sale of the Strathmore land, and a planning brief established, all of the educational need, will have been consulted on and, given the narrow nature of the questions posed by the questionnaires, have been passed in favour of the Council's preferred option. 
2. Although the speakers indicated a long process of looking at all the options for the Strathmore School and its site, none of the background information or findings for the other options (for example keeping the school on this site and updating facilities both at the Strathmore School and the Russell School) are available for viewing by the public. Only one option is really being presented- the option of rebuilding Strathmore facilities on other sites and a total rebuild of the Russell School paid for by the sale of the Strathmore land and a part of the Russell School land. Full details of all options should be available to the public. 3.The case for rebuilding the Russell School seems somewhat fabricated with photos of a basic conditions survey which indicate that a Council as wealthy as Richmond has allowed a local school to fall into disrepair. None of the photos indicated anything more than maintenance work in line with a building of its age. Whilst I understand that essential maintenance work cannot be carried out in term time, a phased approach over school holidays could successfully be undertaken. 
4.With regard to the need for additional classroom/ educational facilities accommodation on the Russell Site. The figure of 1000m2 was being discussed at the meeting. No evidence has been given that the planning department would not grant a suitable extension to the school to allow this additional accommodation. 
5. The Planning Consultant stated that the current format of the Russell School, with three buildings, made management of the School hard. There is no evidence to back this up in Ofsted reports. Given the importance of the site geographically in the Petersham Conservation area and with protected views surrounding it, the option for the school being presented at the meeting was an urban two storey mass not in keeping with the site. The existing low level buildings have a massing and scale suitable for buildings in this location. The Council have not invested enough time in developing the design for the Russell site to allow thorough public comment. 
6. As raised in the point above the Council have not invested enough time in developing the strategies for the Russell School site. The proposal discussed on Monday night to allow traffic to turn onto the Russell site from the Petersham Road shows how little local knowledge the project team have and/or how little time they have invested in developing the strategies surrounding the proposal. The Petersham Road is a main artery from Kingston to Richmond and cars turning onto the Russell site from the Petersham Road would bring this road to a standstill every morning. There is a very real traffic problem at the moment on Meadlands and Clifford Road where parents who are dropping the children off by car park haphazardly all over the estate roads and then zoom off down the narrow one lane strip at 30 miles an hour endangering the lives of all the kids walking to school. This will only get worse with a larger intake of children. Any scheme to redevelop the Russell site should encompass a drop off point on school grounds. 
7. I think the reasons for increasing the intake of children to the Russell School need some further investigation. Part of the problem at the Russell School is that kids are travelling from North Kingston and the top of Richmond Hill to attend. Perhaps the additional school provision needs to be allocated there instead of in a small village like Ham and Petersham which is constrained by inadequate road provision for current traffic. Ham and Petersham has three primary schools, more than sufficient for the children that actually live in these villages. Local kids are missing out on places at the Russell School because, although they live in the catchment and in walking distance of the school, there is no place for them due to the 'siblings rule'. Has the Council looked at making sure that the families applying to the Russell School (and indeed any other school in the village) have lived in Ham and Petersham for a period of a number of years prior to applying for a place and will continue to live in the village for a period of years once a place has been given. 
8. With regard to the sale of the land at the Strathmore site and part of the Russell School land. This was presented at the meeting as the only way of funding the development. Is there any evidence to back this up?. Have other avenues been investigated? It did feel at the meeting that this was established already as a given and that there was no room for debate. All that the speakers would say is that it was a protected site both in terms of its place in the conservation area and the protected views around it and that anyone buying the land would have to deal with the planning constraints of this. The current class of the land is D1. It seems at odds with itself that the council is going to spend a minimum of 6 million pounds moving a D1 function from a D1 assigned pocket of land and then ask the developer, who buys the land to prove that there is no suitable current D1 function? I am gravely concerned that the Council is marking its own homework with regard to this site and that although paperwork will have to be put in place to back it up , the site, once purchased by a developer will get a residential use class. From the Planning Consultant's speech the Council is already minded to consider a development of 20 units? In any other circumstances in terms of scale, massing, location and traffic, such a development on that site would not get planning permission. 
In conclusion therefore I think the council need to pause this current consultation. I believe that, given the scale of the project, all the project proposals should be available for public consultation now. The council need to provide factual evidence of the other options which have been considered to update the educational needs and the conclusions reached, with reasons. The planning briefs for the Russell, Clifden and Greycourt Schools and for the Strathmore land to be sold, need to be established and investigated in terms of scale, massing, traffic management and design, in order that a thorough and fair public consultation encompassing the whole project can take place. I believe that part of this should be established at State level to ensure a fair process.