Controversial plans to revive a popular primary school have received the backing of its former headteacher who blamed the council for its demise six years ago.
Jacqueline Tucker, who was in charge of Wimbledon House School from its creation in 1991 to 2005, said she endorsed plans to create a coalition Goverment-inspired free school on the council-owned Dorset Road site.
The plans are the brainchild of Dundonald Primary School governor Vince Harris, who last week said the new school would be state-funded, non-selective, and would probably specialise in teaching modern foreign languages.
Mrs Tucker, 85, said: “I think it’s an excellent idea. I will write to Mr Harris and do whatever he would need help with.
“It Merton Council was very unhelpful when it came time for me to retire.
“We had a company all lined up to take over my lease and keep running it as a school, but the council didn’t move quick enough.”
“It’s just tragic what has happened to that building and it’s six wasted years where we could have educated hundreds of children.”
The failure to negotiate a new lease left it prone to an occupation by squatters one of whom, Dean Forde, was given a life sentence after murdering a 41-year-old homeless man there in November 2006.
In a letter to the Wimbledon Guardian this week, Councillor Peter Walker reiterated his opposition to a free school being built in Wimbledon and that, in any event, Mr Harris’s plan was unlikely to go ahead.
Coun Walker said: “I am surprised that the Conservatives are so keen locally for this scheme to go ahead when they must know that the body set up to run the school do not own the site. It is owned by the council.
“Accordingly this proposal is not likely to go ahead as we are actively exploring whether the site can help us meet the needs of the council’s primary school expansion scheme.”
What do you think of Mr Harris's proposed free school plan? Leave a comment below, call 020 8722 6335 or email: ooakes@london.newsquest.co.uk.
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