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Camden New Journal - by RICHARD OSLEY
Published: 26th July 2007

Camden School for Girls - one of the schools earmarked for transformation. Changes will include a new entrance and the provision of four new badminton courts

The great schools makeover

Old buildings will be bulldozed and new gyms and art blocks built in £170m transformation

EDUCATION chiefs have confirmed plans for Camden’s biggest school rebuilding project – worth about £170 million.
Nearly every secondary comprehensive in the borough will face some form of demolition as old buildings are replaced with new facilities such as gyms and drama halls.
Each school has drawn up a wish-list, detailing how it wants its share of the cash spent.
Camden’s Conservative education chief Councillor Andrew Mennear said: “We are attempting something that has never been attempted before. The schools have known it was coming and have been excited about it. There will be a lot of demolition and building of first-class facilities.”
The funding is heading Camden’s way under the government’s nationwide Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme, the same pot of cash that will help pay for a new school planned for Swiss Cottage.
Provisional plans for the rebuilding were agreed at the Town Hall last night (Wednesday).
Cllr Mennear said: “The controversy we have had over BSF money has been controversy over what in the end is a good news story because it has been about how to spend a heck of a lot of funding.
“These are important decisions and that is why we have asked people what they want from it. We will be building schools that are fit for the 21st century.
“People talk about the choice of secondary schools for their children and whether they can get places at the school they want – but what we are aiming to make sure is that all our schools, whichever one your children are at, have the best possible facilities.”
Plans include a sports hall and extra facilities at La Sainte Union in Parliament Hill and a new arts block at South Camden Community School in Somers Town.
Cllr Mennear said: “There will be a lot of demolition and work will take some time but it is a small price to pay for what we are going to get.”
The only secondary school likely to receive a smaller slice of the money is Haverstock in Chalk Farm, as it was only recently given a complete refurbishment using a Private Finance Initiative. South Camden will be asked to expand its intake while Maria Fidelis in Euston is due to go from two sites to one.
Cllr Mennear said: “I’m not going to deny there was nobody who said to us ‘Can we manage all of this?’ but we believe they can and we believe in the schools.”

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