| |
Deliver your promise for a new primary
• WHERE is the primary school the Liberal Democrats promised us?
I am dismayed at the way in which leading Liberal Democrat councillor Alexis Rowell misrepresented me (Good news on primary school places, July 16).
Contrary to his letter, I have never written to your newspaper reporting there was not a primary school issue in Belsize or that the problem was “non-existent”.
As such, his claims are baseless and clearly politically motivated.
When I wrote regarding the primary school places issue I only spoke the truth as seen by many residents across Camden who believe that standards have slipped since the Lib Dems took control of the council.
Every child should have a primary school place provided in a local primary school.
That is what I believe.
Like Cllr Rowell I am extremely pleased that a site has been found for the un-placed children in Courthope Road.
However, it is typical of the current Lib Dem /Tory administration that consultation with local residents over the placement of the school has been almost non-existent.
Every person affected by the council's “failed primary school admissions policy” should be given a chance to comment.
This is especially the case considering the controversy surrounding the council sub-letting the premises from a private school.
For some this will be seen as a case of public finances being used to subsidise private schooling.
Have other sites been considered?
I think people should be told.
If the site on Courthope Road is the best option for the children then so be it, but the council needs to explain why this is the case and how they came to reach this conclusion.
In Belsize, the Lib Dems’ electoral successes have ridden on the back of the promise of a new primary school for Belsize Park.
Scores of Lib Dem leaflets went into every letterbox promising this new primary school yet here we are discussing temporary solutions.
At the same time, children and parents are rightly concerned about whether the council can provide the basic education that is their right. It’s not good enough Cllr Rowell.
The Lib Dems promised us a new primary school in Belsize.
Why don’t they deliver it?
Sean Birch
Elizabeth Mews, NW3
Determined to address shortage of places
• IT is disingenuous of Alexis Rowell (Letters, July 16) to suggest the council “messed up” the places planning process.
As Cllr Rowell knows Camden’s ability to expand school places is limited by the population projections which we received from the Greater London Assembly.
Until as recently as two weeks ago, these only showed a need for an additional half-form of entry, which is planned for by an expansion of Emmanuel School in an area of the borough where there are still a significant number of children still without school places for next year (just like the Belsize area). At the schools places working party meeting he will have heard how happy one parent was to learn that her child might get one of the five extra places Emmanuel School are offering in September. But perhaps if he won’t believe me, or the data, or the parents applying for places, he might believe his Liberal Democrat council colleagues for West Hampstead and Fortune Green and accept that this expansion is badly needed.
Cllr Rowell's criticism of the decision to build a new primary school as part of the King’s Cross development is just plain weird. This new school is justified by the many hundreds of new homes which are going to be built in King’s Cross.
Nevertheless we press on. We need to apply by August 14 for some of the £200million the government has set aside for new primary places.
The small-print attached to the press announcement contained lots of weasel words, so it is likely to be difficult to obtain even a small part of the money “on offer”.
The council remains determined to address the long-run shortage of primary places which has, at last, been officially recognised in the GLA data.
Cllr Andrew Mennear
Executive Member, Schools
Working group
• ALEXIS Rowell (July 16) praises all the parents taking part in the “working group” meetings and for their sustained collaborative efforts in helping to bring about the Camden Courthope Road Education Centre.
But as a parent, school governor and member of the school places “working group” I have to say that Cllr Rowell had protested at every meeting that “these” meetings were an utter waste of time and nothing more than a reporting exercise by Camden. I had to remind him at every occasion that this was a “true” working group and was generating positive results.
He misses the point that the “new” education centre still requires further Plan A (bulge class) type solutions for September 2010 and 2011 as the centre provides only a short-run, temporary, solution.
Perhaps Cllr Rowell will now learn the true merits of a working group for ideas to be shared for the benefit of all.
NIGEL RUMBLE
Fellows Road, NW3
|
 |
|
|
|
Your comments:
THERE'S a simple truth behind all of this sniping by the Tories and Labour. If we - Belsize parents and the Belsize Lib Dems - hadn't led a campaign calling for more primary school places in our area, then nothing would have been done. Basta!
Cllr A. Rowell
|
| |
| |
