Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre:
Invitation to drop-in sessions
The Royal Borough will be hosting two drop-in sessions so that
the local community can learn more about the next steps on the
Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre which were agreed by the
Council's Cabinet in December. Drop-in sessions will take place at
the Kensington Leisure Centre.
This will be an opportunity to see how the plans have progressed
since the Cabinet decision. The Council, Aldridge Foundation (lead
sponsors of the academy), Studio E (lead architects) and other
members of the project team will be on hand to answer any questions
you may have. There will also be four 15 minute presentations from
the architects during these sessions to explain the emerging
designs.
The sessions will take place in the crèche of Kensington Leisure
Centre, Walmer Road, W11 4PQ on:
- Thursday 26 January from 4pm to 8pm (Architect presentations
will take place at 5pm and 7pm)
- Saturday 28 January from 10am to 2pm
(Architect presentations will take place at 11am and 1pm)
If you are unable to attend then please let us know what you
think by emailing us your comments at kalcenquiries@rbkc.gov.uk
A new academy and leisure centre for North Kensington
Ambitious plans for a new school and leisure centre in North
Kensington were given the go ahead in December by the Cabinet of
the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
After carefully considering a number of design and cost options,
the Cabinet committed to funding a new academy and a brand new
leisure centre. This decision means a massive £57.8m investment in
the Notting Barns ward - one of the most deprived parts of the
Royal Borough.
Cabinet papers outlining in detail the different options
considered by the Council can be viewed
here.
For an overview of the project to date you can
read the winter edition of the Kensington Academy and Leisure Centre
Newsletter here [PDF] (file size 690Kb).
In September 2011 there was an exhibition and
opportunity to comment on the designs of the six shortlisted
architects for the academy and leisure centre.
The competition to design a new academy and
leisure centre for North Kensington was won by Studio
E. Click on the links below to see Studio E’s designs.
Located off Silchester Road, near Latimer Road
station, these developments would bring significant investment to
the local area, deliver tangible benefits for the whole borough and
respond to a pressing need for education provision in north
Kensington.
The need for the academy
There is a great need for a new secondary
school in the north of the borough and the Kensington Aldridge
Academy would help address this.
Over 30 per cent of local students already
travel outside the borough for their secondary education and by
2018 there is likely to be an increase of over 1,200 secondary
school age pupils seeking places in our schools.
This issue is particularly important in the
north of the borough where there are currently a number of high
quality primary schools but not sufficient secondary education
provision. This problem will become more evident as the local
population continues to grow and the demand for high quality
secondary education in the area becomes even more pressing.
The proposed Kensington Aldridge Academy
We have high ambitions for this academy, which
would also play a key role in the redevelopment and regeneration
plans for the Latimer area.
The academy will be co-sponsored by the
Council and the Aldridge Foundation and will offer a first class
all-round curriculum and, in addition, specialise in
Entrepreneurship and Expressive Arts.
It is also supported by the Government which
shares the co-sponsors’ ambition to deliver a high quality school
for North Kensington.
Investment in the local area
In addition to providing a new secondary
school for children in North Kensington, the academy would also
bring benefits to the local community, such as use of the
facilities out-of-school hours or use of the sports areas on
weekends.
In addition to the academy, the Council is
committed to delivering a new leisure centre on the site.
This proposal has been previously welcomed by local residents and
would significantly improve the leisure facilities currently
available.
Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed a
figure of £17.6 million for the academy. The Council is now
looking at further funding options for the academy – as well as the
leisure centre – and has engaged professional consultants to help
with the process.
The story so far
The academy and leisure centre project has
some history in the borough and the latest stage of this is the
current consultation on the vision and ethos for the academy, led
by the DfE. You can learn more about this consultation on the
Kensington Alridge
Academy website.
Various consultations with stakeholders, local
residents and other interested parties have been taking place since
2008 including:
- consultation by the Council on the Core
Strategy of the Local Development Framework (LDF) during 2008 and
2009. This looked at opportunities for the wider Latimer
area, for this specific site, as well as borough-wide planning
policies such as those relating to open space.
- the next stage was looking at the more
detailed planning requirements for the Academy and leisure centre
site, to prepare a Planning Brief. The Planning Brief – known also
as a ‘Supplementary Planning Document’ (SPD) – took the policies
set out in the borough-wide planning policy document, called the
Core Strategy, and provided more detail on the planning
requirements for the development of the site. This was consulted on
between January and May 2011 and adopted in May 2011.
- the adoption of the SPD allowed the academy
sponsors to consult with the local residents on the early vision
and the ethos for the academy itself..
- previous consultations have also taken place
on the leisure centre.
Next steps
The feedback from the academy ethos and vision consultation
concluded in July and the results have been published on the
Kensington Aldridge Academy website.
Additionally the Council's Leisure team will
be engaging with user groups and residents on the future of the
leisure centre and the Aldridge Foundation will be meeting and
talking to as many local stakeholders as it can to explain its
ideas and ambitions for the Kensington Academy.
In order to move the project forward, Studio E
architects will now develop a series of design options for the
academy and leisure centre. We want local people to get involved
and so have set up a residents’ forum to review these emerging
options during the autumn before they are presented to the
Council’s Cabinet in December. A final decision will be taken at
this time as to whether or not the project can proceed. If you are
interested in joining the panel please contact kalcenquiries@rbkc.gov.uk.
We are also interested in all those who make
use of the centre facilities and what we can do to improve and
extend the borough’s leisure centre provision. A leisure group is
being formed which will include regular users of the leisure centre
so they can input into the emerging proposals. If you would like to
be involved please contact the manager of Kensington Leisure Centre
on 020 7727 9747 or email kensington.enquiries@gll.org.
There will also be other opportunities to have a say on the
options which will be publicised through leaflets later in the
year, and, as with previous meetings and workshops, in the Council
newspaper, in the local press, the local library, local schools and
in the sports centre. They will also be on this website.
There will then also then be further
engagement with local residents on the detailed proposals for the
academy and the leisure centre before a planning application is
submitted in 2012. This will also be subject to the rigours
of statutory consultation as part of the legal requirements
of seeking planning permission in the borough.
Find out more
You can find out more about the early
proposals for Kensington Aldridge Academy and Kensington Leisure
Centre by visiting the Frequently Asked
Questions.
You can also register for regular updates on
the academy plans by emailing kalcenquiries@rbkc.gov.uk