Consultation extended on Putney Hospital proposals (From Wandsworth Guardian)

Consultation extended on Putney Hospital proposals

7:50am Sunday 27th May 2012 in News

Residents in Putney will have more time to respond to a consultation on proposals for a new primary school on the vacant Putney Hospital site.

Wandsworth Council's children's services department is resubmitting its planning application for a new 420 pupil primary school and a 50 place nursery for children living in the west of the borough.

If the plans are approved, the original timetable for the opening of the school and nursery will not change and the first children would be admitted in September 2015.

The birth rate across Wandsworth has increased significantly over the last few years. The number of children being born in the borough each year has now topped 5,200 - in 2001 this figure stood at 4,000.

This sharp increase is partly driven by the rise in the number of children now being born in Putney.

If the new school gets planning permission, it will be run as an academy. This would make it state funded but give it greater freedoms to manage its own affairs and work in partnership with other schools, academies and education establishments. Putney Hospital, which is situated on the eastern edge of Putney Common, closed services to patients in 1998. It has remained vacant ever since.

The planning application will seek permission to demolish the existing hospital buildings and replace them with a new primary school and 24 homes.