4:21pm Thursday 18th March 2010
By Chris Wickham
The Government is yet to approve the controversial expansion of a primary school which is set to get formal planning permission tonight. Earlier this year Richmond Council put in a second planning application for the provision of additional buildings at St Mary’s and St Peter’s CE Primary School, in Teddington, to enable the school to be enlarged from two to three forms of entry by September 2011.
That application - which replaced a scheme condemned by the Football Association (FA), Sport England, the London Playing Fields Foundation and Fields in Trust - is before Richmond Council’s planning committee tonight, with a recommendation for approval.
The new plan has received the backing of headteacher John Logan, who described it as “a good design, with a good educational slant”, the FA and Sport England, but not of parents, who are concerned about the reduction in playground space.
The first plan would have left the school with about a quarter of the outdoor space needed and although the new scheme has increased the area available it still needs a Government relaxation before it can be built.
Richmond Council confirmed this afternoon that relaxation had not been granted.
A spokesman said: “The council is still in the process of providing further information to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), to allow them to meet with ministers for a decision concerning the relaxation of prescribed standards for team game playing fields.
“Given the demand for school places locally, it is sensible to proceed with a planning application while we wait for a decision from the DCSF. It is not unusual for local authorities, particularly in London where demand for places is high, to make applications to the DCSF in this way.
“The planning application process is separate from the relaxation requirement, and must adhere to the legislation and guidance laid down for the local planning authority.
“The council will publish the outcome of the decision from the DCSF as soon as it is known.”
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