Chelsea Academy
As written about previously in RBKC Direct the Council has had a long-held ambition to build a new secondary school in the south of the borough.
This ambition took a giant step forward when the Council signed a funding agreement with the Government and its co-sponsor the Church of England.
A new secondary school for Chelsea moved a step closer with the signing in April of a funding agreement between Kensington and Chelsea Council, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Diocese of London.
The agreement means that, following years of discussion and planning, all three parties are fully committed to going ahead with the new Academy. The new school will open in temporary accommodation, subject to planning approval, in September 2009, with pupils moving into the new building in Lots Road in 2010.
Most of the costs of the new school will be met by the DfES but both the Council and the Diocese of London’s Board for Schools will make significant contributions towards the £38 million cost of the new building.
Part of the site was occupied by Heatherley’s School of Fine Art. The Council has been negotiating with Heatherley’s for three years to reach an agreement that would secure the site and leave Heatherley’s with a new building nearby.
The time taken to conclude negotiations meant that the Council was unable to ensure that the school site would be vacant by summer 2007 – a deadline necessary to provide sufficient time to construct the new school building in time to open in September 2009.
Rather than delay the opening of the Academy and increase pressure on parents seeking secondary school places, it has been decided that the Academy will open in nearby Hortensia Road in September 2009 for one academic year before moving to its new building on Lots Road in July 2010.
The planning process
The site has been secured and the funding agreed but before work can begin on building the new school the Council has to secure planning permission for the project.
The designs for the new school were submitted to the Council’s planning department in June with a final decision likely to be taken by the planning committee in September.
To view the plans please visit to the Council’s Planning Information Office at Kensington Town Hall. To make comments please write to:
The Executive Director of Planning and Borough Development
Town Hall
Hornton Street
London
W8 7NX
Email planning@rbkc.gov.uk
To find out more email rbkcdirect@rbkc.gov.uk.
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