Pupils ‘would be packed like sardines’ at £8m school site

A London local authority has been accused of wasting £8 million buying a site to build a school which critics say is far too small.

Sutton council bought the land in the south of the borough but faces claims that there is more demand for school places centrally and in the north.

It has offered £950,000 towards planning and development costs for a new free school to interested parties.

The Liberal Democrat-run council, which needs 180 more Year 7 places by 2018, says the former Sutton Hospital site is a good option as it is not on green space or green belt land.

But Tory MP Paul Scully said there was a risk that pupils would be packed in like “John West sardines”.

For the school to be big enough for the borough’s needs, it would have to be multi-storey and have no playing fields, Mr Scully said.

He also criticised the council for buying the site ahead of a bigger one he had identified about three miles away where, he said, there is more demand for places and better transport links.

Conservative councillor Jane Pascoe said: “It is not Sutton’s job to go out and purchase the sites, the delivery [of funding] rests with the Education Funding Agency, so there is a risk that the council won’t get all the money back if the EFA don’t approve.”

A council spokesman said its policy was “to prioritise suitable brownfield sites for development over green space. The chosen site in Belmont meets this condition as it is large enough to house the sixth-form-entry school which needs to be open in 2018 to meet demand for places.”