Back to that 2018 Local Plan and the Liberal Democrat cavalier attitude to SEN education, we were concerned about the allocation of the former Playing Fields at Sheen Way on the Highview Estate for an SEN school.
We questioned this and were told that the Council had conducted searches for Primary School sites, Secondary School sites as well as sites for 2 SEN schools. The did conduct searches but NOT for SEN school sites.
SEN education appears to be an afterthought – the Sheen Way site was noted in 2011 by the London Borough of Sutton as subject to serious surface water flooding as if acts as a soakaway for both the estate and the adjacent railway.
Rejected by Sutton’s Planning Committee, the plans were accepted after a Planning Enquiry where residents were represented by Tim Foster and Jillian Green. Conditions were applied which included a wholly revised Construction Logistics Plan because residents from both sides of the railway line cannot understand how the builders will get their construction equipment through the narrow estate roads.
We continue to fight on behalf of residents because it is not just the build process but the suitability of the site – flooded fields do not make an ideal playground, closed windows to keep out the train noise and extra time on travel on congested roads are not conducive to SEN education!