Proposals to build brand new buildings for Ashmount Primary School and Bowlers Community Nursery, plus a renovation of the CAPE Youth Centre have been given top-level approval.
In September, the planning application for the project was approved at Islington Council’s North Area Planning Sub-Committee meeting. As the proposed site for the new school and community developments are on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), the project also needed planning consent from the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State. Both of these have now been granted.
The agreed plans propose that Ashmount School - currently based in Archway - is relocated to Crouch Hill open space. The whole site will be developed, with Crouch Hill Community Park offering a range of services for local residents including improved recreational space and child care services. Better facilities will be available for children and young people, with a new building for Bowlers Nursery and the refurbishment of the CAPE Youth Centre.
Using sustainable methods to power the site and maintaining the outside space will be a key factors in its development, along with protecting the local wildlife. New buildings will have a carbon zero rating and the outside space will be incorporated into the designs, with the landscape being used as part of the learning environment.
Islington Council's executive member for children and young people, Cllr Paula Belford said:
"This approval means that pupils and staff at Ashmount can look forward to a brand new building on a fantastic site, which will provide them with the first-class facilities they deserve.
"With the new building for Bowlers Nursery and renovation of the CAPE Youth Centre, community facilities on offer for a whole range of local residents in the Crouch Hill area will be much improved.
"I’m looking forward to seeing this exciting project develop over the next few years."
Head of Ashmount School, Pana McGee said:
"I am delighted that this aspirational project has finally been given the green light. The extended facilities and education that the school and the site will provide will be fit for the 21st Century and for children and families now and in the future."
Islington Council will now be working with local stakeholders to secure a contractor to carry out the project, with building work likely to begin in summer 2010.
ENDS
Page Last Updated: 20 November 2009