Tensions remained high surrounding the building of a new free school in Richmond after people said they had been overlooked in the proposal process.
Bellevue Place Education Trust (BPET) wants to open Deer Park School at London House, Lower Mortlake Road, from September 2017 and reception children for the next two academic years will be accommodated at Richmond Adult Community College (RACC) in Parkshot.
The proposed permanent site, which is on the A316, was announced after plans for another proposed free school in East Twickenham stalled late last year.
If planning permission is granted, the trust said they would completely demolish London House, but residents’ feared the school would not only impact on their lives, but would also put children at risk of danger.
At a meeting on Friday, March 20, Tom Legge, board director at BPET, said the trust had looked at eight or nine other sites in the borough but added "the only viable option was London House".
He added: "It is no secret we identified Ryde House as the preferred site and the Education Funding Agency are still in negotiations with Lidl over that site. We still hope we can open at Ryde House the following year, September 2016."
Mr Legge said six issues had arisen from the previous consultation on London House - access to the site, travel arrangements, traffic, air quality, size of the site and play areas - but people were left furious at the lack of mention of the "inappropriate" location.
One resident said: "What breaks my heart about this is the assumption anything is good enough for children. What is wrong with Richmond is this attitude to put children on any site. Why are you so determined to go ahead with this? You can see it is a rotten idea - I don’t understand why you are doing it."
MP Zac Goldsmith, who chaired the meeting, said the location of the school was the biggest and central issue.
Another resident added it was just not children BPET needed to be taken into consideration, but the views of the people.
She said: "We have a need for more schools, there is no question about that. The question is about is it [London House] adequate? No it's not. It also affects the people who live here and that has been forgotten."
People at the meeting were unsuccessful in their attempts to find out other sites identified but added the Parkshot site would be an ideal location for a school.
Closing the meeting, Mr Goldsmith assured the audience he would make enquiries to see if RACC could accommodate the school permanently.
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