Bollo Lane Secondary School Turned Down

Ealing Council planning committee agree site is unsuitable

Ealing Council has turned down an application for a new secondary school on Bollo Lane which hoped to open in September this year catering for students with learning challenges.

Residents had objected to the proposal, saying the site was not suitable for a school. Opposition was led by the residents of the 56 flats on the site and Liberal Democrats Councillor Andrew Steed spoke against the proposal at the Planning Committee meeting.

The community unit where part of the school would be located

The application was also opposed by the existing Banana Moon Nursery and London Wildlife Trust on behalf of Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve.

Councillor Steed said: “This site was not appropriate for a new school and I am glad that Committee members felt that there were sufficient grounds to reject the recommendation of the Planning Department. There was a lack of any outside play area and a large volume of noise nuisance.”

A spokesperson for the resident said: "The Residents and objectors to the proposed school at 2 Bollo Lane are delighted that the application has failed. We are pleased that the planning committee at Ealing Council understood our concerns and could see that placing a secondary school below a block of flats was entirely inappropriate. It must be said that the assistance of Councillor Andrew Steed and his eloquent objections were invaluable to our efforts. We understand that the applicant can now appeal the decision but we remain confident that the grounds of opposition are so substantial that this would also be unsuccessful. The planning committee summed up the position well by stating ‘great idea, wrong location’!"

The Independent School at 2, Bollo Lane, wanted to be in operation for the next academic year with a phased entry rising from 8-16 at first intake to eighty pupils aged 11-16 by the end of two years. It proposed a non denominational co-ed school with particular emphasis on children who have been diagnosed with learning challenges such as dyslexia or AD/HD.

May 15, 2014