Frank has sent a message to local residents who attended last night’s meeting about progress on plans for a school south of the Euston Road:

Dear Fellow Resident,

I am sorry I cannot be present at tonight’s meeting as I would like to hear what Camden representatives have to say about the current position on the new secondary school our area so clearly needs.  The Lib Dem/Tory Council has had nearly four years to plan and build one but they haven’t done a thing.  Instead, the Council has missed a golden opportunity.  For many years no money was available for a new secondary school.  But in 2006, the Government guaranteed Camden the funds to build one.  The big question was ‘where?’  Camden has nine secondary schools.  Camden needed a tenth secondary school.  The area south of Euston Road has a tenth of Camden’s child population but no school.  The Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme presented a once-in-a-lifetime chance to provide one.  Did the Lib/Dem councillors jump at the opportunity to build the school in our area?  No, they did not.

They ignored the children of this area, ignored what parents said at public consultations and announced they would build the new secondary school in Hampstead.  When local parents in this area and I protested they said

-          that they couldn’t reconsider the decision because there was a deadline

-          that any delay would hold up investment in other Camden schools

-          that the Government wouldn’t agree to a four-form entry school

-          that there wasn’t a site for a school in this area

-          that there weren’t enough children in the area to justify a new school

None of what they said was true.  I took a delegation of local parents to meet the Schools Secretary, Ed Balls, and he made clear, and later confirmed in writing, that the Council would be allowed more time if more time was needed, that nothing need hold up the investment in other Camden schools and that a four-form entry school would be acceptable.  Then the local parents’ campaign identified the Wren Street site which the Council had ignored.  And the Council was forced to admit that the child population figures I supplied were accurate and would justify a new secondary school.

But the Council still refused to reconsider their decision and continued to ignore the needs of families south of Euston Road.  They are putting the investment into a new school in Hampstead and are trying to fob off parents in this area with the promise of expanding South Camden Community School north of Euston Road.  But there are enough children living either side of Euston Road to fill two secondary schools and the numbers will increase with new developments.  So, it’s very important tonight to find out exactly what they are now doing.  Actions speak louder than words.  If they had acted sooner, building could have started on our new school.

Yours sincerely,

Frank Dobson MP

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