If you care about Education in Barnet join us at Hendon Town Hall tonight

If you care about your childrens education in Barnet, you really should come along to Hendon Town Hall tonight. The cabinet of Barnet Council are debating a "new process" for opening local schools. The scheme is touted to be  a new local process. If you read what it actually entails it is nothing of the sort. Here is the description of the process, from the Barnet Council document describing it

http://barnet.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s4317/NEW%20FINAL%20Arrangements%20for%20commissioning%20new%20schools.pdf

Here is the relevant paragraph

9. BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
9.1 As of 1 February 2012 Schedule 11 of the Education Act 2011 came into force followed by non-statutory guidance, published on 29 May 2012, on establishing a new school. Where a Local Authority proposes that a new school is needed, the Local Authority must first invite proposals for the establishment of an Academy or free school. The Local Authorities should be clear about the type of academy/Free School they wish to see established and should take steps to ensure that the Department for Education and groups or organisations that might be interested in establishing the new school are aware of the opportunity.   

9.2 Local Authorities should assess the proposals they receive and may state a preference, which the Secretary of State will take into consideration when deciding whether or not to enter into a Funding Agreement with any of the proposers. 

9.3 The Council has a statutory duty to ensure that sufficient schools for providing primary and secondary education are available in the area. As such, it may prove necessary to commission new schools to meet additional demand, for example from births, migration or new housing development.   

Proposed local process 

9.4 Barnet has a number of regeneration and development schemes that will require new educational provision over the coming years, including Mill Hill East, Brent Cross Cricklewood and Colindale. Proposed local process  

9.5 In line with non statutory guidance, it is proposed to operate a local process for commissioning new schools as follows.   

9.6 For each new school commissioned by the Council, a report to Cabinet Resources committee will set out: i) the requirements in relation to the size and type of school;
ii) the factors that will be taken into account when choosing a preferred
proposer.

9.7 The type of educational provision required will differ, for example, depending on whether a new school is needed to meet the needs of existing residents or new residents. However, the requirements are likely to include the size and type of school, proposed opening date, and need for community facilities. The equirements will be informed by Area Action Plans and other strategic documents as appropriate.  

9.8 Some common factors to be considered are likely to include: ability to deliver the stated requirements specifically in relation to size and type of school; strength of educational vision; track record of success; inclusive practices and provision for pupils with differing abilities; commitment to community provision; and educational and financial capability.   

9.9 Following approval, expressions of interest will be sought and proposers will be given a minimum of six weeks to respond.   

9.10 A stakeholder group will be convened by the Children’s Trust Board to consider responses and, together with the Cabinet Member for Education, Children and Families, make a recommendation on the preferred proposal to Cabinet Resources Committee. The preferred proposal would then be put forward to the Department for Education for final approval. 

What struck me as I read through this document was a) the lack of any meaningful detail and b) the lack of any proposals to engage with local residents in the development of such schools. Have Barnet Council learned nothing from the Mill Hill Etz Chaim fiasco, where the opening of a new Free School building is still being held up by a legal challenge from local residents, a year after the work was scheduled to start.

The lessons of Etz Chaim are easy to learn

1) Involve the local community in decisions
2) Conduct your business in an open and transparent manner
3) Don't tell porkies to local residents

Sadly the new process flies in the face of these lessons, if anything making the process even more opaque. Residents will get a  mere six weeks to register their concerns. There is no definition of what "stakeholder group" is, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it wouldn't include something like the Mill Hill Action Group, which collected thousands of petitioners signatures.

When I read the recent Etz Chaim planning papers, I was astounded to see that Barnet Council did not consider the elderly residents of Marshall Homes to be "local residents" even though they live around the corner and the Garden Centre was their nearest shop. In Barnet, we have smoke and mirrors consultation. I did not sign the petition to keep the Garden Centre, but if I had I would not have been considered a "local resident" even though we go past it every day when walking the dog.

The "minimum six weeks" period is instructive. In Barnet, all contentious decisions are always announced at the start of the summer holidays, when opposition is hard to organise. Brian Coleman did this trick with the abolition of Pay and Display. A minimum of three months would be appropriate, as people have to do research, get legal advice and make their neighbours aware.

Anyone who has followed the Etz Chaim fiasco, whether a supporter or opponent of the school should think that there are lessons to be learned. Is there no one in Barnet Council who has the sense to convene a meeting with the various parties involved to improve the process.

If you have the time, I'd advise you to come down and see how the cabinet of Barnet Council make such important decisions. You may be in for a shock. The meeting is at Hendon Town Hall and starts at 7pm.

Guest Blog - Etz Chaim School - A Mill Hill Resident responds to Action group blog - by Mr Boris Shedlyson

By Boris Shedlyson,

In response to your recent guest blog from the Anti-Etz Chaim/Save our Garden Centre Group, there are a few points that I would like to clear up:

They do not speak for me nor many other members of “the community”.

I don't want to be dragged into a slanging match, as a resident in Victoria Rd, I am very happy to see the back of the daily morning gridlock caused by the articulated 40ft lorries illegally parked up for hours outside Wyvales and performing traffic island destroying u-turns at the junction with Hammers Lane.

There will only be worse traffic if the kids are dropped off in articulated lorries..even if some parents should refuse to walk their children to school and even if some drive 4 x 4’s, they will have a whole car park to turn their cars around in.

You should also consider that the school could bring with it a pedestrian crossing, desperately needed on Dawes Lane, a benefit to the entire community. We have been trying for 15years to have crossings put in on Lawrence St and Dawes Lane, the school could help to make this happen, allowing young and old alike to cross into the park. There is not a single pedestrian crossing in the entirety of Poets Corner/Dawes Lanes/Hammers Lane, despite the number of schools, elderly and disabled living in the vicinity.

The Council should be pouring cash into improving the park amenities, not spending it on lawyers fighting this absurd cause.

The proposed school will be closed for the entirety of the many holidays, freeing up the car park for park users rather than be crammed with Wyvale's shoppers, benefitting the entirety of the community.

Wyvales took the decision to grab the money and run and in my opinion, treated their staff rather shabbily. However, they were never a Public amenity, they were a commercial organisation whose peppercorn rent allowed them to increase their profits.

The Mill Hill Park is the key, there is a cafe and the facilities desperately need upgrading and maintaining, it would be money better spent rather than fighting opponents to the school.

I realise how potentially divisive this subject is, we are all entitled to our own views, however, I could not hold my silence when we see outright lies being published in a public forum. These lies damage our reputation and indeed our viability in crushing economic times; we are trying to make a living.

Members of the action group have claimed that Finchley Nurseries doubled their prices,accusing them of somehow profiteering; this is hurtful. There have been no unusual increase in prices whatsoever as a result of Wyvales closure, Finchley Nurseries continues to offer many more discounted deals on everything from compost to bird food.

Finchley Nurseries, less than 2miles from Wyvales was here 60yrs before Wyvale...nobody asked them if it was ok when Wyvales were given the site practically free. Finchley Nurseries is part of the community in a way that Wyvales could never claim nor hope to be. Yes, it was convenient and people got used to it being there, however, to claim that it was in some way a beacon of light for community groups within Mill Hill is absurd. 

Did I mention that there is also a superb aquatics outlet at Finchley Nurseries Burtonhole Lane, off The Ridgeway, NW7 1AS, open 7days a week?

Support your local garden centre so that we can continue to help support the local community, support Mill Hill Park....and stop wasting our own taxes on expensive lawyers.

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Boris Shedlyson is a Mill Hill Resident. Guest blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye

Guest Blog - Mill Hill Action Group continue to oppose Etz Chaim School

By Zoe Samuelson,

Thank you to all those who attended the meeting on Sunday and for those of you who sent your vote by proxy. As many of you are aware, our first Judicial Review against the granting of planning permission to the school was successful, but the school used up another application and applied again and the council approved their second application.

Our legal advice is that there is again a legal argument against the school as a replacement for the Garden Centre in Daws Lane. We invited the community to advise us whether we should continue the fight and issue legal action once more and ask the court to once again overturn the council's decision.
The vote from the community was an overwhelming yes to continue to rebuild the Garden Centre. Rebuilding a place where the elderly, the young, the disabled and able-bodied all mixed naturally together. A place where the community met so that the teenagers & children of our neighbourhood knew those who've lived here for over 40 years. A place where those with physical and mental health issues were naturally included as an essentail part of the community and were not seperated into special classes or isolated into special facilities.

It is clear in the Dep of Education's Funding Agreement to the school (confirmed in letters) that if planning permission cannot be obtained by the school, the land will revert to the Dep of Education and our view is that they will sell it to one of our available buyers who will replace the Garden Centre, even better than before (para 91A of the Funding Agreement for those of you who like knowing the detail).
The Mayor of London has now decided he cannot intervene with Barnet's decision. So we await the formal process for Barnet council to approve the school's planning application. After that we propose to issue legal action by sending a pre-action letter to Barnet and issuing legal proceedings, preventing any work on the site by the school.

In order to proceed now though we require further funds. The first JR is awaiting the final stamp by the court before we can claim back our costs. Last time we raised over £13,000 in just 25 days. Once we get most of our costs back for the first JR, all the money will form a pot from which to challenge the council until they listen to the court that has already told them once that the elderly and disabled of the community are entitled to be given their due regard and should not be ignored (The Equality Act 2010). If we ultimately succeed, the funds from the court will be returned to you.

You may be interested to know that our successful legal challenge supporting the elderly and disabled of Mill Hill will, we are informed, makes legal history as the first successful legal challenge under the Equality Act 2010. We are setting the standard for how councils across the country should treat those who are the most vulnerable in our society and in any formal council decision, across the UK, you will begin to see their consideration of the Equality Act 2010 because of Mill Hill. 

Zoe & the Team

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The Mill Hill Action Group are fighting to reinstate a Garden Centre on the site of the closed Wyevale Garden Centre in Daws Lane. Their email is saveourgardencentre@gmail.com. The Barnet Eye has published this blog as it is a matter of local public interest. We welcome guest blogs from anyone with an interest in local issues. Publication of a guest blog does not necessarily indicate agreement with the views expressed.