The Council identified a number of sites for schools in developing the Local Plan and is now undertaking a fresh search in the light of recent Free School applications whose requirements are less stringent than those we would expect if the Council had the powers to build one.Compulsory purchase isn't something a council can just do whether a building is empty or not - if a site isn't zoned for a school, like Max Factor, it can't be bought for one under a CPO. We did set money aside to buy it on the open market and similarly we tried to buy the Brentford Police Station site when it became available, but the Council was unable to match the price private developers were willing to pay for the opportunity to build yet more flats - London Green got both and the Council is discussing the future of these sites with them.A presumption in favour of development is built into the national planning policy framework - so however much we complain about the scale of private housing development going on in Brentford in the end unless Planning Committee members can be assured of their grounds, refusal simply results in an appeal - the Reynard Mill case is a clear example of how the Council pushed the developer to that line then had to yield when a scheme consistent with the Planning Inspector's last decision was submitted. Planning Committee gets a truly bad press but it's the exceptions we hear about not the 99%+ of applications planners quietly get 'right'.The provision of adequate social infrastructure ought to be the responsibility of a local council but it isn't - the Council did make space in GWQ for health services but couldn't entice them to use it; affordable housing is our priority but if a developer can show their scheme isn't viable with it then they get to push back. Planning powers alone are pretty feeble and, where the Council has a statutory duty as it does to provide adequate school places, government has circumscribed their ability to build - so we can't simply decline an application for a free school on an unsuitable site without hazarding the educational future of local children. This is no way to manage the challenges of our community, pitting the interests of private developers, Government, Councils and local residents against each other. Sadly Raymond, that's what we've got and you're right, it doesn't make sense.
Theo Dennison ● 3640d