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Parents of schoolchildren empowered to take class action
ONCE, parents fatalistically accepted they had little choice when it came to which primary school their children would attend.
If one was near their home, well and good. Quite far away, then it would mean a long walk, if not a short bus ride, however disruptive to the family.
In a higgledy-piggledy fashion schools could be found dotted all over the borough, a borough that in any case accidentally changed size and shape when Camden was born in the mid-60s.
But in recent years something has stirred in Camden.
Expectations have risen, mothers have begun to challenge authority.
Four years ago mothers in south Camden asked a simple question: Why cannot a school be built in King’s Cross or Holborn? From the question grew a campaign that today looks to be edging towards victory.
Now, one mother, Liz Taylor, is asking questions about the obviously poor provision of primary school places in Belsize Park.
Parents in Belsize Park have grumbled in the past about this problem, but that was the past.
It’s heartening to see that though electoral politics may be in the doldrums, public campaigning seems to be on the up and up.
CLEAR conviction rang out in Alistair Darling’s voice when he announced yesterday (Wednesday) in his Budget speech that £100million would be granted to local authorities to spend on building or buying homes.
We have been setting out the arguments for more than a year that the only way to solve the nation’s housing crisis is to embark on a giant council housing programme.
But one can see at a glance that Darling’s plan is a tiny faltering step – in the right direction, true, but miles and miles off target.
If the grant was awarded to local authorities in London only, it would mean about £3m for Camden – enough to build a few score houses, but a paltry figure set against a waiting list of 17,000. Split it among the hundreds of councils throughout Britain, and the housing gain in each locality would be laughably tiny!
Darling, along with Gordon Brown, doesn’t want to revive council power – power that was first emasculated by Mrs Thatcher.
Yet the construction of council housing presents a ready-made solution.
In the main it is a ‘shovel-ready’ solution – the sites exist, planning delays wouldn’t occur, and work could start straightaway, providing jobs and a fiscal boost to the economy.
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