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Why this sudden epiphany on the road to Wren Street?IT could be said that the government isn’t a listening government but can one say the same of Camden Council?
This newspaper has, on more than one occasion, upbraided the council for not being a listening council.
We believe political logic has been on our side.
Along with hundreds of parents in the Holborn area, we have campaigned for more than two years for a new secondary school in south Camden. We were concerned that the new senior school planned for Swiss Cottage would be sited in the wrong part of the borough.
Perhaps impatiently, we had given up on the council.
It surprised us that council leaders did not appear to be prepared to listen to the voices of parents – however loud they were raised.
We were wrong.
Judging by the announcement of the council’s education chief, Councillor Andrew Mennear, on Monday all the signs point to one fact – that Cllr Mennear has been listening to the parents.
If all goes according to his new plan, a new secondary may yet rise on the site of council lock-ups in Wren Street, off Gray’s Inn Road.
Is this a certainty? No. In today’s climate who can say?
We do not know how long the recession will last. We do know that in all likelihood there are bound to be swingeing cuts to public sector expenditure in the next two or three years as the economy – according to all signs – sinks further.
Would this new dream of a school in Wren Street in the British economy of tomorrow remain exactly that – a dream?
Perhaps.
But in the meantime, we believe parents would welcome Cllr Mennear’s conversion. Where and when Cllr Mennear’s epiphany took place we do not know.
Cynics may postulate that this week’s decision makes sense if judged by the world of politics.
The scales of politics – certainly in today’s volatile world – can tip one way or another. Next year local elections will reflect a changing society. Shrewd politicians may be measuring all their decisions this year against the yardstick of these elections. They would never be taken out of the equation.
On balance, however, we would like to believe that Cllr Mennear and his colleagues have, on this occasion, listened to the voice of dissent.
You could say the parents pursued their arguments with such clarity and vigour that sooner or later the councillors would have to listen to them.
But that need not have been the case. Politics is more profound and messier than that.
However, out of the melange of politics has come this week’s announcement – and it is to be welcomed. |
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