Merton school considered surplus to requirements now looks like being sold off for housing
By Harrison Galliven, Local Democracy Reporter
A former school site in Merton looks likely be sold off with a view to building affordable homes on it.
Up until August 31, Stanford Primary School, in Chilmark Road on the edge of Norbury and bordering Croydon and Lambeth, had 420 pupils plus a nursery on site.
It became part of the PACE Academy Trust in 2018 through a lease from the council. However, the school suffered from falling numbers due to a reduction of school-age children in the area and the expansion of a primary school in neighbouring Lambeth.
According to the October 2023 census, there were only 130 children on roll and only nine children in the reception year. PACE made an application to the Secretary of State for Education in the spring of 2024, who subsequently ordered the closure of the school at the end of the summer term.
Following closure, efforts were taken to find suitable alternative schools for the student base. The school also found places for its 24 SEND students at the nearby Liberty Primary School.
Due to the length of this process, the SEND students will remain on the Norbury site under the Liberty Primary School roll, before they can move to the physical site in Mitcham after the October half-term.
The site has been handed back into council ownership by the academy, and the local authority gave itself three options for the future of the site: continued use for education, continued use for other council purposes, or sale to a third party for development.
In its cabinet reports, Merton council concluded there was no current educational need for the Stanford site to serve as a school in the future.
The council cited data showing a stable surplus of mainstream school places nearby and indicated that the site would not be appropriate for a special school due to accessibility considerations.
The site’s location at the edge of the borough’s northern boundary meant it was ruled out of being used for other council uses. The council added: “It is a large site and any council services use could only be part of a much larger development.”
Merton therefore recommended that the best option was the disposal of the site. They said its eventual sale would mean developers could build new housing on the site.
Merton is undertaking feasibility work regarding the potential for housing development on the site. The outcome of this work will be concluded later in October.
However, approval from the Secretary of State will be needed before the site is declared surplus for education and used for any future housing.
Pictured top: Stanford Primary School closed to students at the end of August (Picture: Google Street View)