Green Party

Gordonbrock School decant delayed

Gordonbrock School parents, pupils and staff found out this week that their planned decant to allow for the part-refurbishment and part-rebuild of the school has been delayed by six months. It appears this is due to a mistake in the planning process, which Brockley Society is threatening to challenge in the courts and it looks like the whole planning application may have to be resubmitted. Back in 2005 the school was all set to be rebuilt when the funding was withdrawn, so this is the second time they've been knocked back at the last moment. I'm someone who loves Victorian and Edwardian architecture. But when it comes to schools, educational objectives should always take precedent over heritage objectives. I didn't think that the Gordonbrock refurbishment plans were perfect by any means but I am deeply upset by this delay. Parents and kids don't deserve this.

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olivia knight
Posts: 3
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disapointed with green response to gordonbrock
Reply #3 on : Tue March 30, 2010, 19:24:15
Surprised by Darren Johnson's response. Not doing a proper environmental audit and proceeding ilegally is quite a big 'mistake' to make. as a parent of two children at gordonbrock i think you are missing the point if you think the objections to the planned rebuild were simply about treasuring old buildings over the education of our children. it keeps being mentioned how long plans how been around to rebuild gordonbrock and yet so little time and consideration was given to those plans in terms of the impact they would have parents, children, community and environmental the proposed demolition and rebuild would cause. i hope the delay will mean the council will reconsider the very 'poor' plans alongside the new ones proposed by the brockley society and ensure that this time proper consultation with take place with parents and the community rather than just with the developers and that the environmental implications will be safely managed. We are teaching our kids about reducing, reusing and recycling, about not just throwing out the old in favour of the new but learning how to care for and preserve the world around us. We should be putting this into practice in reality not in the abstract with a sensible and sensitive refurbishment. I was going to vote green as usual but knowing Darren Johnson's stance i will now vote Lewisham People Before Profit.
St Anthony
Posts: 3
Comment
Re:
Reply #2 on : Wed March 24, 2010, 14:48:29
Do you actually have a child in the school? No? Than how about a little humility and actually listening to the objections to the parents?
Nothing I have seen in the way the school is run or the way this debacle was planned makes me comfortable in putting my child on a coach and seeing her disappear into the distance. The proposed decant sounds like a nightmare and will not work.
Perhaps if anyone at the school had actually had the courtesy to ask the parents they wouldn't be in this pickle now.
elaine bayley
Posts: 3
Comment
Re:
Reply #1 on : Mon March 22, 2010, 10:37:26
Beautifully put.
I am a parent and neighbour who had children at school during the in 2005 fiasco and still have children there now, so that is two delays. But this time the school would be council owned not PFI, so lets push ahead and think positively...
It will be better that the school can be rebuild safely. If the rebuild could be started at the beginning of the summer holidays rather than 6 months away, maybe the rebuild would be finished by September 2011 ....... that would only be a 10 month decant ..wow, many parents would love this.
Even if it was not quite ready, maybe all of KS1 and nursery could start in September 2011 while internal final fit happened in the KS2 buildings. Maybe the children of Gordonbrock school can still come out winners, but it will take effort and compromise. Please try.
elaine
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