New academy 'would lead to fighting with pupils at rival school'

A former Labour minister today called for plans to build a city academy next to Wembley stadium to be scrapped.

Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North, said he fears the "all-through" academy for three- to 18-year-olds will be too close to Preston Manor High School and fights could erupt between pupils.

Teachers and residents opposed to the new school have previously occupied the site, in the shadow of the new stadium, with a protest camp.

A public meeting organised as part of the consultation process was abandoned amid heckling by protesters and another meeting was cancelled because of fears of further disruption.

The academy will be sponsored by ARK, the education charity founded by hedge fund tycoon Arpad Busson, and is backed by Brent council's ruling Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition.

Mr Gardiner, a former trade and industry minister, stressed that he supported academies in principle but said a better location for the new school would be in south Brent, where demand for places was greatest.

He said: "There are already students who criss-cross the borough to have fights with children outside other schools. It would be foolish not to take cognizance of that. Putting a school there [Wembley] is asking for trouble."

The MP also said that congestion was already a problem in the area and would be made worse by extra cars on the school run. He suggested that if the academy was built, pupils would have to be bussed in to avoid adding to the traffic. ARK had agreed to this, he said.

Bob Wharton, the Lib-Dem councillor responsible for children's services in Brent, said the academy was "desperately needed" as the borough could not find places for all its pupils.

Preston Manor High, which was rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, received 1,182 applications for 315 places in September.

The council wants the academy to open in temporary buildings next September for an initial intake of four-year-olds. It would start taking secondary age pupils, a year at a time, from September 2009. Mr Wharton said: "I get letters from parents saying, 'I can't get my kid into a school'. We are firefighting all the time with that."

Mr Busson will be among the speakers at the latest Evening Standard Influentials debate - Should The City Give More To Good Causes? - to be held at Tate Modern next Wednesday. For details and free tickets, visit www.standard.co.uk/rewards