The planning application to effectively transfer Chiswick School from Kappara to Pembroke opens a new chapter in opposing land-use planning atrocities which seem to sprout every other day. The site proposed for development, measuring 15,000 square metres, is not Outside the Development Zone (ODZ). In fact it is within scheme.
So why oppose the proposal? There are a number of reasons why this planning application, even though just an outline application at this stage, should be aborted and the sooner, the better.
A cursory look at the North Harbours Local Plan (which deals with Pembroke in addition to a number of other areas) gives a very clear basic reason why this application should not even have been submitted. The site selected forms part of a larger area which the Local Plan, approved in 2006, identifies as the Pembroke Development Brief Area. The site, circled on the Pembroke Policy Map shown on this page, is subject to Local Plan Policy NHPE 09 which, when published for public consultation, explained in detail the objectives that the Pembroke Development Brief should aim for.
None of the objectives listed in the Local Plan for the Pembroke Development Brief Area involve schools or education. In fact, the four specified objectives are: non-industrial employment generating uses of a national/regional catchment area, leisure uses, a Local Centre and private sector housing. The Pembroke Development Brief, when drafted and published for public consultation, should present detailed guidance as to how these objectives will be attained.
The Local Plan also establishes that key planning obligations of development within the Pembroke Development Brief Area will include: 1) a comprehensive infrastructural improvement; 2) the provision of better access to the area by public transport; 3) the upgrading of the existing Regional Road junction that serves Suffolk Road and the schools area; 4) the construction of the link road from this junction to the Pembroke Development Brief site and other improvements to the arterial and local road network deemed appropriate through the recommendations of a Transport Impact Statement (TIS); 5) the upgrading of St Patrick’s Park and 6) the upgrading of open spaces.
It is clear that the proposal for a new school on the corner of Gabriele Henin Street and Mediterranean Street in Pembroke does not feature in the provisions of the North Harbours Local Plan. So why has the Planning Authority permitted this application to proceed so far? Should it not have submitted an immediate recommendation for refusal on the grounds of a clear and unequivocal conflict with the provisions of the North Harbours Local Plan? Why does the Planning Authority procrastinate when it could have given a clear and definite answer within five minutes and thereby transmit a clear message that, when push comes to shove, the Local Plans are worth the paper they are printed on?
Over the years, Chiswick School, currently in Kappara has had a negative impact on the daily lives of Kappara residents. Exporting these problems to another area will not serve any positive purpose. It will only make the lives of Pembroke residents – already struggling to cope with the impact of the large number of schools already in their area – more miserable.
The Planning Authority owes a duty of care to Pembroke residents. Acting expeditiously is as important as acting correctly. It is clear that the proposed Chicwick school at Pembroke is a non-starter. But over the years I have learnt one thing: with the Planning Authority you never know where you stand.