Children protest outside Highbury Quadrant

INSPECTORS will size up the profit-making potential of a Highbury primary school site marked for closure – the day before councillors vote on plans to shut it for good.

A letter from Islington Council – seen by the Tribune – informing Highbury Quadrant primary school of the inspection was copied to Islington’s director of New Homes and Corporate Landlord Services, leading campaigning parents to wonder if a decision has more or less already been taken to use the land for something else. They want the school kept open.

Selling the school site to a property developer might only earn the council around £5million – less than 1 per cent of its annual income – Alasdair Macdonald, director at property experts Hotblack Desiato, suggested when we asked them to estimate a ballpark figure.

The “asset valuation” has been slammed as a “slap in the face” to the children, parents and teachers who have spent months protesting the local authority’s plans to close the school.

Mother-of-four Alicia Perez called it a “betrayal”, adding: “It’s hard not to question the true motivations [for closure] when an independent property valuation is happening the day before a closure vote.

“This valuation completes the picture – that the future lives of some of the most vulnerable children matter less to [councillors] than cash generated from the land.

“So is it really about education, or is it about money?”

Highbury Quadrant is one of two primaries in the borough that have been slated for closure by the council, on the grounds that a falling birthrate means there are not enough children to make them financially viable. There have been two public consultation surveys on the closure plans and the council has repeatedly promised that nothing will be decided until a final vote on April 24.

But the move to determine the school’s market value before the vote has led some to ask whether the plan was to turn Highbury Quadrant into a cash cow for the council all along.

Ms Perez added: “It’s as if the council is more interested in the land beneath the school than the children within it.

“It makes a mockery of the consultation and the reasons behind it all.”

Caretaker Mark Gillespie said that in his seven years at Highbury Quadrant, he has never known the land to be valued.

Highbury Quadrant chair of governors Terry Stacy told the Tribune: “I do think it’s a bit of a slap in the face for the parents. It’s somewhat hypocritical, as they keep saying that no decision has been made.”

Mr Stacy, a Liberal Democrat and former Islington Council leader, added that if the council has a legitimate reason for commissioning the valuation, “they haven’t explained it to the school”.

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, who has been campaigning with parents and teachers to save Highbury Quadrant, said he was “very concerned” by the council’s plan to value the site and its ongoing refusal to consider alternative ways to keep the school open.

Cllr Michelline Safi-Ngongo, Islington’s children’s chief, said: “We understand that this is a difficult time for families and we are considering their feedback, including all alternative ideas for keeping the school open.

“No decision has been made yet, but if the decision is made to close the school, we will provide dedicated support to help parents and carers find the right school for their children. Nearby schools have enough places to accommodate all pupils without increasing class sizes to unsustainable levels.

“Planning and legal restrictions mean former school premises can only be used for educational purposes, without a formal application to the secretary of state regarding potential alternative use of site. The survey will help inform any plans we need to make for the site if the decision is taken to close the school.”