Hundreds sign petition calling for school to move into Hampstead police station building
Petition of support for Abacus Belsize Primary School. Headteacher Vicki Briody (front left) and parents including Mary Sheppard (right) with the petition outside Abacus Belsize temporary home in Camley St NW1. - Credit: Archant
Parents have thrown their weight behind plans to convert Hampstead’s former police station into a school.
More than 400 signatures have been collected in a petition calling for Abacus Belsize Primary School to move into the Rosslyn Hill building.
The plans will be considered by Camden Council’s development control committee next Thursday.
Parent Mary Shepherd, who lives in Hampstead, said: “The perception seems to be that Hampstead residents don’t want this new school but it’s simply not true.
“I have been speaking to hundreds of local people who think that the former police station would be the perfect home for Abacus.”
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And she continued: “We hope Camden Council will support us, and support a state school which provides outstanding, secular, inclusive education for the borough’s children.”
It follows concerns raised about traffic in the surrounding area.
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School headteacher Vicki Briody said: “We do understand that local people have concerns about traffic as a lot of people seem to drive
their children to school in Hampstead.
“I want to reassure the local community that we are a walking school.”
She said demand for school places hugely outweighs supply currently.
The school has received 171 applications for 30 places in the next academic year, and the new building is needed to meet demand.
