New academy and leisure centre plansKensington Academy and Leisure Centre

Plans submitted this month

A planning application for a new leisure centre and academy in North Kensington will be submitted to the Council later this month.

In April the Royal Borough and the Aldridge Foundation held a public exhibition to share the designs before this application is submitted. 

The proposals include:

  • a new academy providing much needed school places as over 30 per cent of local students currently travel outside the Royal Borough for their secondary education
  • a state-of-the-art leisure centre to replace the current facility
  • creating more green space by enlarging Lancaster Green
  • improving access and creating better links to the area
  • new homes to help fund the scheme

The outcome of the planning application will be known in September. 

If given the go-ahead a phased construction programme would begin in the autumn of 2012 with the Kensington Aldridge Academy opening in September 2014.  Construction of the leisure centre will coincide with the academy programme with the aim of the new centre opening at the same time as the academy.

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.

 

KALC plansThe 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 has committed £10.4m of additional funding for the academy.

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

We are now looking forward to sharing the full designs for the academy and leisure centre with local communities and listening to their views. Following this exhibition the architects and project team will review the feedback and update the designs before submitting a planning application at the end of May.

The planning application will then be considered by the Council at a Planning Committee meeting in September. If the application is successful we aim to open the new academy and leisure centre in September 2014.

 

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