Parents must wait for Merton school decision (From Surrey Comet)

Parents must wait for Merton school decision

12:03pm Wednesday 28th July 2010 in

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Desperate parents must wait until after the summer holidays to learn if a new school is coming to Merton.

Merton Council’s decision between building a new school or expanding more existing ones to tackle the borough’s school place shortage will be announced in September at the earliest, the cabinet member for education said this week.

Councillor Peter Walker also said better communication with residents and parents over the issue was needed, after many complained about the council’s handling of the expansion of Hollymount Primary School.

Conservative politicians attacked their Labour opponents for reconsidering plans to build a new primary in Wimbledon, the area worst affected by the shortage.

The crisis has been blamed on a predicted 25 per cent rise in the numbers of school-age children, and has already sparked permanent and temporary expansions in schools across the borough.

On Tuesday Coun Walker said funding pressures meant the council might not be able to staff and run a new school.

He said: “I must use the money as efficiently as I can.”

Last week Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond said: “This is total indecision and could see more school places delivered a year too late.”

Coun Walker said he would carry out the “widest possible consultation” on the chosen option, which is set to be announced in the first few weeks of September.

The controversial expansion of Hollymount in Cottenham Park Road, Wimbledon, was approved last month. Rival plans for the rebuilding of the school, drawn up by residents, were rejected by the council – sparking complaints the authority was not listening.