Outline designs available in November for the school proposed for Putney Hospital site
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Residents will be able to view and comment on the designs at exhibitions at All Saints Church, Putney Common, on November 14 from 3pm to 7pm and November 17 from 4.30pm to 7.30pm. The views expressed at the consultation will be taken on board before a planning application is submitted early next year.
The council exchanged contracts in September for the purchase of the long-disused hospital site from previous owners NHS Wandsworth, and the school will be built once purchase is complete.
Putney Hospital, which is situated on the eastern edge of Putney Common, closed services to patients in 1998. It has remained vacant ever since.
There is growing pressure on school places in this part of Putney. Wandsworth's birth rate is growing at a faster rate than almost anywhere else in the country and the council is planning for this by exploring options such as building new schools and expanding existing schools.
It is committed to supporting community proposals for new free schools and academies in order to widen choice. These schools are in the state sector, but have more freedom to manage their own affairs and to work in partnership with other schools, academies and education establishments.
The new school will be run as either an academy or free school and will provide 420 primary places and up to 50 full time nursery places from 2015 for children living in the west of the borough.
One of the key issues for its design will be vehicle access from Lower Richmond Road. No access will be permitted from Commondale. The access arrangements and the new school’s relationship to Putney Common are currently the subject of detailed discussion with the Commons’ Conservators.
The scheme also includes 24 flats at the northern end of the site for which planning permission was obtained in July 2010. This element of the scheme is not expected to change significantly. Proceeds from the sale of the flats will help pay for the school.
The existing permission includes a polyclinic which is now being replaced by the new school following the decision of the local NHS not to proceed with its original plans.
Following the consultation, the council will incorporate the views of local people into its final plans, and will submit a planning application in the New Year.
October 28, 2011