Cllr Joe Caluori, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families, blogs about the community consultation meeting on Ladbroke House

On Monday (5 December), 115 local residents crowded into Highbury Fields School to take part in a community consultation meeting about the Ladbroke House site in Highbury Barn.

The Department for Education (DfE) purchased the building for £33.5m and the Meller Educational Trust are proposing to open a secondary free school and sixth form on a site with no outside space, along with luxury flats. This will bring over 1,000 pupils to an already congested and confined part of the Borough every day.

This proposal seems especially strange when you consider that the site is smack bang between two existing secondary schools, Highbury Grove and Highbury Fields, both rated ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted.

At the meeting, many local residents agreed that this proposal was a huge of money and will have a negative effect on neighbouring schools. Residents were also concerned about the safety of children and parents using already congested pavements and local transport.

At the end of the meeting, residents voted unanimously against this free school proposal and in favour of using the building to provide affordable housing for keyworkers, including local teachers, many of whom struggle to get a foot on the property ladder in London.

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Pictured – Cllr Caluori at the community consultation meeting