Much-debated school in former police station wants to double student numbers

The planned move of a free school into new digs in Lower Clapton Road is to see further debate next week, with Star Academies seeking to double the number of students moving into the old police station building from 90 to 180.

Hackney Council had initially rejected the 2016 application to move the Olive School on the site due to concerns over traffic congestion, a decision reversed by the government on appeal, subject to conditions including the school limiting its student body to 90 pupils in its first year, increasing by the same amount annually until it reached its full capacity of 630.

However, due to delays in construction on the listed building site, the first intake of pupils has been delayed by a school year, with the academy chain now seeking to open with double the amount initially agreed as a result.

The Clapton Square Conservation Area Advisory Committee said: “The scheme was subject to a lengthy and detailed public inquiry at which one of the principal concerns was the effect of the considerable scale of
operation on the site, roads and immediate community.

“The phasing of student entry – scaling it up gradually from 90 in the first year – was a carefully considered one and met with the consent of the applicant at the time.

“The applicant cannot legitimately claim this is a minor matter (by way of a minor amendment) that was not germane to the substantial consent. It would be ludicrous to allow such a material change to the operational density in the first year without as full an exploration of any new issues as at the inquiry that designed the condition.

“That said we don’t see any new arguments that merit discussion and as such cannot support the proposal which will inevitably create an intolerable conflict between the needs of the staff and pupils and the ongoing site construction.”

The reception year of the school were due to start in 2019/20, but will now start at the school’s temporary site on Brooke Road.

Town Hall officers have stressed that, while they have received a number of objections on whether the old police station is appropriate for a school with a capacity of 630, that as a result of the overall appeal being granted by the government next week’s debate will focus only on whether an extra 90 pupils can be allowed to attend in the first year.

Hackney Council planning officers said: “The principle of the development has already been established by the Planning Inspector’s decision and is not under reconsideration here.

“While the staggered intake of 90 pupils per academic year in year one would have been a useful way to incrementally monitor the actual impact and trip generation of the proposal, increasing the intake to 180 pupils in year one is not considered to be a significant enough increase to give cause to objection given the full planning application anticipates trip generation relating to 630 pupils by September 2025.”

Councillors will review the proposals at an online planning sub-committee meeting, the first formal online gathering of its kind at Hackney Council, following government legislation to allow decisions to be made remotely during the pandemic.