Quite apart from the fact that Harrow Borough Council has agreed in principle to the siting of a new school on the site of Whitchurch playing fields (overturning the designation of these playing fields in local plans as land that may only be used for community outdoor sports that must not prejudice the use of the site as a flood storage area) the council appears to have justified the proposed development on the grounds these playing fields are under-utilised.

In the new service-level agreement for Whitchurch playing fields, the council restricted local schools’ access to six hours a week (Whitchurch and Stanburn), after both schools previously had unlimited access. How was that justified?

I would suggest that restricting access to local schools furthering the utilisation of these playing fields was orchestrated by the council to justify this change of use of the site further down the line.

This ‘connivance’ was exposed in its lobbying against the local community’s application for the playing fields to be redesignated as a village green in the recent public enquiry.

We can’t expect Harrow Council’s planning committee to take this important detail into account in its specific decision- making remit when it will vote on the planning-application.

However, on planning grounds, any sensible, impartial committee would not rubber-stamp this application because the development, depending on its size, in my opinion potentially fails to be justified on two more immediate and highly significant considerations: one already mentioned (building upon an area of vital flood storage — a particular concern because of the knock-on effect in times of heavy rainfall it may have on surrounding areas such as Belmont Circle), and the significant deleterious effect on local roads in an area with two other schools already heavily traffic-bound at rush-hour.

Mark Simon Brown

Belmont Road, Harrow