New secondary school at Beis Malka Girls School, London N16

What was proposed

The application proposed replacing existing school buildings with a four-form-entry school, including a basement hall, rooftop play area and refurbished existing building.

“Demolition of existing school buildings and construction of a 4-form entry secondary school; comprising a new part single-storey, part four-storey school building with basement hall and roof top play area (block A) and refurbishment / extension of existing school building providing admin/staff offices and playgroup (block B) with associated landscaping…”

“POST SUBMISSION REVISIONS: Proposed Ground Floor Site Plan (2170_49J) Proposed Lower Basement Block A (2170_50H) Proposed Upper Basement Block A (2170_51K) Proposed Ground Floor Block A (2170_52J) Proposed First Floor Block A (2170_53G) Proposed Second Floor Block A (2170_54G) Proposed Third floor Block A (2170_55H) Proposed Ground and First Block B (2170_56G) Proposed Roof Plan (2170_57D) Proposed South & East Elevations Block A (2170_58D) Proposed North & West Elevations…”

Officer report

The site and surroundings

The school occupies a brownfield backland site surrounded by residential streets, with mostly temporary buildings and access from Alkham Road and Lampard Grove.

“The application site consists of an independent Beis Malka Jewish girls school. Measuring circa 0.32ha in size, the site contains a number of buildings within the central ‘yard’ formed by the surrounding Victorian streets. Many of the buildings are modular portacabin buildings and are of a temporary nature.”

Officer report

Why officers supported it

Officers considered the educational need, design, heritage, neighbour, transport and environmental impacts acceptable, subject to conditions and a section 106 agreement.

“On balance, the benefits of the proposal are substantial. The new school will provide significant educational improvements that are desperately required for a minority group within the borough. Whilst there is potential for an increase in noise pollution due to the rooftop playground, in general the scheme has been designed to minimise the impact on neighbouring residents, and a condition has been attached to ensure that noise is kept to a minimum.”

“As such, and on balance, Officers consider that the proposal is recommended for approval, subject to conditions and a section 106 agreement.”

Officer report

What residents said

Twenty-seven objections and one supporting letter were received, with objections focused on scale, construction, traffic, neighbour amenity, noise, privacy and school operations.

“Design ○ Height, scale and massing is excessive ○ Materiality is out of character with neighbourhood ○ Overdevelopment of site ● Noise and disruption during construction, especially due to the basement construction ● Highways and traffic concerns during construction, especially due to access to the site ● Concerns over basement development and potential subsidence on neighbouring properties ● Highways and traffic concerns during operation, particularly due to the amount of…”

“The school’s proposed design is considered acceptable. Due to its location it would not be highly visible for the street, it would not harm the character and setting of the nearby locally listed buildings and it would not cause unreasonable harm to neighbour amenity ● Construction works are inevitable and conditions have been attached to minimise the likelihood of disturbances.”

Officer report

Who spoke at the meeting

Two people spoke against the application and two people spoke in support.

What members discussed

Members discussed rooftop playground safety and noise, sustainability, privacy, transport, archaeology, local labour, landscaping, biodiversity and ventilation conditions.

“Councillor Sheldon Grün inquired about how noise and safety risks from the rooftop playground would be managed. The applicant explained that the area was shielded by 2.5 to 3-meter-high surrounding structures, which acted as both safety barriers and noise buffers. The planning officer confirmed that specific conditions were attached to the approval regarding external noise assessments and mitigation.”

“A five-year travel plan was mandated to ensure these sustainable travel obligations were met and monitored by the council. • Councillor Crowe asked about the potential for construction delays should archaeological remains be discovered during the deep excavation. The planning officer noted that any impact on the project timeline was unknown, as it depended entirely on what might be found during the dig.”

Minutes

The committee’s decision

The committee granted conditional planning permission, subject to completion of a section 106 agreement.

“To grant conditional planning permission subject to completion of a s106 agreement.”

Minutes