Petition details
Compulsory purchase Westferry Printworks for a school
Dear Mayor, in 2014 you started the process to compulsory
purchase the right to light at the City Pride site in order to help
with the delivery of new affordable homes at Island Point.
We would ask that you start that process again but this time to
compulsory purchase the Westferry Printworks school site. The land
owner has since April 2016 not signed the lease agreement to allow
the Council or the Department of Education to build a new school on
that site. Your Management Development Document adopted in 2013
made clear that area could only be used as a school.
A compulsory purchase would deliver land for a new 1,200 pupil
secondary school as well as a new school sports facility with three
outdoor pitches available for the community to use out of school
hours. This land was previously used as car parks and most of it
has not been used for over a decade. So the financial impact on the
Council would be limited and we note the government is changing the
rules to make this process simpler and cheaper. This would also
save the government a lot of money as LocatEd are looking to buy a
new secondary school site in the E14 area for Canary Wharf College
and perhaps they may be willing to pay for any compulsory purchase
costs. The government has also committed to paying to build the new
school.
Meanwhile, a developer is proposing to knock down a site at
Selsdon Way, Crossharbour which is used as a car park. But it also
has offices now used by Canary Wharf College Secondary as their
school has grown while they wait for a permanent site at Westferry
Printworks. There are also external football pitches on the roof
(originally managed by Powerleague but now run by the school both
for their pupils and for others out of school hours).
The developers want to build a new 38-storey residential tower with
40% affordable homes. But construction would mean the loss of the
football pitches and part of the school. That would create a
conflict with policies in the Local and Neighbourhood Plan which
protect community assets.
But if Canary Wharf College is able to move to a new site with
outdoor pitches that would minimise any planning conflict.
A compulsory purchase would deliver a new secondary school, new
community sports facilities and open up another site for
redevelopment at a minimal cost to the Council.
This Petition runs from 24/05/2023 to 05/07/2023.
533 people have signed this Petition.