Go-ahead for Ashmount School ‘ignores Ombudsman’

Published: 5th November, 2010
by PETER GRUNER

A WRITER has warned that the Town Hall is rushing ahead with plans to rebuild an Archway school before the decision to go ahead has been properly investigated by local authority watchdogs.

The manner in which approval was granted for Ashmount School in Hornsey Lane to be rebuilt on semi-derelict land half a mile away is the subject of an unresolved complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Peter Berresford Ellis, a historian who has published several books, said: “The decision to press ahead while ignoring the Ombudsman’s decision to investigate our complaint is astonishing.”

He was speaking on behalf of campaign group Ashmount Site Action Group (ASAG). 

Mr Berresford Ellis said. “A recent letter from the Ombudsman’s office to ASAG informs us that the council have also ignored a recent request by their office for further information.”

The group had hoped that an Ombudsman’s investigation might lead to a new court challenge to the rebuilding.

Mr Berresford Ellis said that many residents believe education in the area will suffer because the primary will move to a “cramped site” which is “smaller than government standards” and with less space for facilities than the present school.