School for 1,150 pupils built on site with ‘illegal levels’ of pollution
A secondary school for 1,150 pupils was built on a site with allegedly “illegal levels” of pollution, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
The £12m Harris Academy school in Wimbledon was approved in November 2018 on the former Merton Abbey primary school site in High Path, despite many objectors, including Green Party assembly member Caroline Russell.
Merton council’s planning application committee document for the school in June 2018 said an independent pollution assessment had “demonstrated that future users of the academy would experience acceptable air quality, with pollutant concentrations below the air quality objectives”.
But the assessment also showed the nearest monitoring station, just 150m away, consistently registered above the legal nitrogen dioxide limit, and was nearly double that level in 2016.
An email revealed in an FOI showed that Joyce Pountain, a member of Sustainable Merton, an environmental charity, had emailed the MP for Wimbledon, Stephen Hammond, in October 2018 about “illegal levels” of pollution she had recorded at the site of the school.
In the email to the MP, Ms Pountain said she had taken measurements and found illegal levels of nitrogen dioxide in High Path.
A separate Merton council air quality assessment of Merantun Way, adjacent to High Path, in May 2018 also found it surpassed the legal limit of nitrogen dioxide.
Nitrogen dioxide is harmful and typically comes from car emissions. The legal limit used to be set by the European Union, which would fine the Government over breaches but there is no functioning fines system since Brexit.
A report from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in May 2018 said the site was in the top 50 most polluted areas in the capital.
A Merton council report for 2017, also published in May 2018, found it was one of the highest polluted areas in its borough.
Former Merton councillor and cabinet member for schools, Peter Walker, was against the school’s construction and obtained the FOI nearly five years after he requested it following an intervention from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The former councillor said the school could have been built in Mitcham, where pollution levels are much lower and there is land owned by the Department for Education.
Whilst it is not illegal to build a school in areas with high pollution, Mr Walker said it is “immoral”.
He said: “The council never managed to actually produce the figures that show the area is or is not polluted before the site was approved.
“The Mayor of London said it was one of the most polluted areas in the capital. Merton said it themselves and now the FOI shows that Joyce, a member of Sustainable Merton, said it as well.
“The local MP was sufficiently concerned by Joyce’s findings to contact the councillor, who did not contradict her findings in the reply email.”
Merton’s latest air quality report shows that pollution levels nearby are still above the legal limit.
“As a council we are concerned about the impact of air pollution and have been taking initiatives against it, including installing the highest number of Breathe London air quality sensors of any borough.”
Harris Federation has been contacted for comment.
Pictured top: Harris Academy in High Path, Wimbledon (Picture: Google Street View)
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This really is immoral – first allowing the school to be built on a site the council knew to be polluted, and then covering up the fact. We know that children are particularly affected by high levels of pollution, as their brains and bodies are still developing.
Apparently if you say something enough it becomes true! The site was not built in an area of poor air quality, Merantun Way has been monitored for years, as has the school since it was built. Get educated get informed and read the reports.
Yep air pollution is bad…but people please, at least get the facts right!
You don’t publish any comments that contradict poorly written and inaccurate stories.
Check the AQ Annual Status Report, this area is not above the legal levels. Been measured for years. Air pollution is a challenge we need to tackle but please let’s get the facts right!