Kensington is soon to have it's first ever secondary school. It is being jointly funded by the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in conjunction with government funding. It is being built on a former council depot on the border of Newsham Park and Sheil Road and was originally intended to not exceed the existing footprint of said depot, or this is what the residents were told.
This has since proved to be a lie and it remains to be seen what else has been lied about. Construction work is currently under way and once again it appears that local residents have not been consulted appropriately. Sure, 1 in 20 people who I know were consulted, but is this really thorough? Is this quantity enough to guarantee a proper concensus?
At one of the public hearings concerning the schol I attended last year, Bishop James actively apologised for the lack of consultation, but this didn't change anything. There have been movements within the local communitiy to have something done about the destruction of our wildlife habitat etc. But this effort has been roundly ignored by developers and over 450 trees have been destroyed, fences erected and noses put out of joint.
It is no wonder that apathy reigns in Kensington. How can the powers that be expect any kind of commitment from local communities if the views of those communities don't count for anything?
Any comments or thoughts are gratefuly accepted on the email address supplied.
Thanks,
Si