Details
We urge the council to debate the impact Turing House School will have on Heathfield, including but not limited to:
- The impact on public transport as there are very limited transport links to the site, with only one bus, the 481, passing once every half hour.
- The impact on Twickenham School, already threatened by the newly built Richmond upon Thames School.
- The impact on traffic congestion and parking, particularly if the additional facilities proposed are also open during evenings and weekends. Increased traffic will cause danger to pedestrians, especially children walking to school.
- The impact on residents health and safety from noise/air pollution as Heathfield has the highest hospital admissions for asthma, heart disease and obesity. Increased pollution would worsen the situation drastically.
- The unfair admissions policy that will give only 20% of school places to local children.
- The impact on protected Metropolitan Open Land. Heathfield has only 27% open space. This ranks us 16th out of 18 wards in Richmond for open space. We urge the council to stick to the Richmond Council Local Plan which states that only 'small scale structures may be acceptable, only if it does not harm the character and openness of the Green Belt or Metropolitan Open Land.'
We understand that the Education and Skills Funding Agency is responsible for securing sites for free schools, as the Council noted in their response to the petition 'No to Turing House School in Whitton' which ran from 20/07/15 to 20/10/15. This is why we are simply asking for a debate on the impact Turing House School would have in Heathfield in the hope that Richmond Council will stand with Heathfield residents and not the EFSA.
Started by: Sergio Cortes-Allsopp (on behalf of No to Turing in Heathfield Action Group)
This petition ran from 22/11/2017 to 22/02/2018.
Signatures
1498 people have signed this petition. This includes a paper petition containing 1179 signatures.
