Labour Party responds to open letter on the Putney Hospital site by Cllr Tracey

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"What was very striking about Cllr Tracey’s letter to residents published here on PutneySW15.com was how out of touch it showed the Tories to be with the strength of feeling in our community about the planned development on Putney Common.

At no point during the long running saga of the Putney Hospital site has Cllr Tracey or her colleagues in the Town Hall offered anything to allay the anxieties of residents in the Thamesfield area. This is despite those anxieties being repeatedly voiced at public meetings and in the consultation submissions.

Over a year ago, Putney Labour Party published an open letter also on PutneySW15.com asking Cllr Tracey to address these concerns, but we got platitudes back and no action. A failure to listen has now led to a breakdown in relations between our community and the council.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Many of us in the local Labour Party have attended the meetings on the future of the site. We have listened to what our neighbours here have to say about the development. We know many people want the site to be used for the wider community, many are concerned about the size of the building project and others worry about the environmental impact.

Putney Labour Party therefore proposes a number of simple actions to ensure that any proposed school fits into the community it will serve:

 Make the plans fit the site. The council wants to cram a school and luxury flats onto a small space on the Common. We believe there should be far fewer luxury residential properties built on the site than proposed. This would allow the school size to be appropriate for the space - and prevent the children’s playground having to be on the roof! Any shortfall in finance will come from the millions of pounds the council has received from Michael Gove in Whitehall. He won’t let the council spend it on schools like this but that’s plain wrong.

 Make parents sign a “green transport plan”. Once a school is up and running, all parents should be asked to sign an agreement not to bring their children by car.

 Increase the number of 485 and 265 buses. We would want to see more buses at peak school times allowing pupils from across Putney better access.

 Change surrounding parking restrictions. The parking restrictions around the school need to be changed to discourage parking at the key drop off/pick up times with wardens active in these zones.

 Make it a “community school”. Facilities on the site should be available for surrounding residents outside school hours to encourage better community relations.

It is time for Councillor Tracey and the Council to demonstrate they respect your views and we call on them to support these proposals as a step in the right direction".

January 24, 2014