Camden News - by RICHARD OSLEY Published: 10 July 2008
‘Pupils would lose third of their playground space’
DESIGN consultants told the Town Hall that rebuilding two schools on Edith Neville’s grounds would lead to a cut in outside space. Feasibility studies commissioned late last year appeared to suggest that a third of the space could be lost to new buildings if Edith Neville and Frank Barnes shared the site in Ossulston Street, Somers Town.
The documents, leaked to the New Journal this week, state: “Both Frank Barnes and Edith Neville would meet the agreed area standards for buildings, and exceed the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ minimum area for confined sites, though there would be a reduction of around 1,000 m2 from Edith Neville’s current net outdoor area.”
One campaign source said: “If you put this into perspective: there is currently around 3,000 square metres of ‘net outdoor area’. So Edith Neville stands to lose a third of its playground space if this plan goes ahead.” Despite the existence of the report, on Monday night Richard Lewin, a director in Camden’s education department, insisted there would be no loss of playground facilities.