Lib Dem councillors in the London Borough of Haringey are demanding answers from Haringey Council over what it proposes to do to provide alternative local school places for around 77 reception children in the Crouch End area for September 2006.

Lib Dems say that a shortfall of 77 places has arisen because the Council rashly hoped to provide 60 extra places at Coleridge School as early as this year.

The 2006 date for the proposal has now been moved to 2007 by the Schools’ Adjudicator to whom the plans were referred and who held an official hearing in Crouch End on Monday. The Schools’ Adjudicator still needs to rule on whether the proposed expansion should go ahead at all.

Lib Dem Education spokesperson, Cllr Gail Engert, who was at the hearing, says Haringey Council must answer for why it did not assess the risks of offering such early provision at the Coleridge site. Lib Dems also want to know what ‘plan B’ the Council has for the provision of these places should the Schools Adjudicator turn the expansion down. In particular, the party wants to know what would be the time frame for any alternative proposal.

Cllr Gail Engert comments:

“I am disturbed that the Council does not seem to have thought through the timing on this issue, which was wholly unrealistic right form the start. The entire proposals will be the subject of a lengthy planning application, so there was never a realistic chance that places could have been provided for this year- and even for next year, the timetable looks very tight indeed. “

Local Lib Dem MP and Muswell Hill councillor Lynne Featherstone adds: “All this means disappointment and heartache for local parents who thought there would be more places availablethought so – because they were told so by the Council.It is yet another example of bad planning over the school places issue, with the Council seemingly unable to look into the near future, let alone planning for school places on a sensible, ten-year cycle.”