Plans approved for City of London Academy trust’s temporary school in Haggerston
City Academy Shoreditch Park headteacher Holly Arles - Credit: Archant
City of London Academy trust’s ambitious expansion plans are a step closer after permission for a temporary school in Haggerston was granted.
The proposed four-storey structure for the temporary City of London Academy Shoreditch Park, which will be sited in Haggerston Park until 2019 - Credit: Archant
Building will start on the four-storey City Academy Shoreditch Park in Haggerston Park next year before its permanent site in Hyde Road is finished in 2019 – subject to its own planning permission.
The plan faced controversy last week when campaigners against the development of that site claimed the ripping up of Shoreditch Park would be a “done deal” if permission for the temporary building went through, which it did on Wednesday.
A consultation on the development, on the existing site of Britannia Leisure Centre, opens on December 5. This includes plans for a new leisure centre.
Meanwhile the temporary building will be largely assembled off-site, before being put in place on the derelict parks depot off Audrey Street – the site of Bridge Academy’s former temporary building.
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Over the past decade the area has been used by Hackney BMX Club and an agricultural group. New homes have been found for both groups, the council said.
Headteacher Holly Arles said: “We want to build on the successful model of our academy in Hackney.
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“The reaction to the new school has been very positive. I think there is a trust and a respect from the community about what we have achieved.
“I am competitive and I want to lead a school that can be even better than our academy in Hackney.”
Although it is an academy, the town hall has helped identify the sites for it – and it will take a welcome chunk out of the 1,650 secondary school Hackney needs to find by 2020.
Schools boss Cllr Anntoinette Bramble said: “This is a really important step in our wider plans to ensure we can provide high quality school places for our children in Hackney.
“It would be simpler to allow central government to open free schools which do not reflect our borough’s needs.
“Instead, we’ve decided to tackle head-on the challenges a rapidly growing population and highly successful local education system bring.”
