Harrow Council opposes Orley Farm School's £10m revamp

Work was due to begin on the long-term project this month. But Harrow Council said the redevelopment could not go ahead, after ruling it would be detrimental to the area and would also increase the private school beyond its agreed student capacity.
Proposed improvements include extra classrooms, a new entrance, kitchen and dining room, a base for children with special educational needs, a music rehearsal room and a sports pavilion.
It had also outlined plans for better disabled access and a new footpath along South Hill Avenue.
At the time of submitting the plans, the school said said more classrooms were needed and the revamp would help it to remain popular and successful. It will now try to come to an agreement with the council's planning department.
Bursar Tim Brand said: " We were obviously very disappointed with the outcome. We weren't surprised as the council asked us to withdraw the application but we declined to do so because we wanted to see their formal reasons. We're working with the planning department to try and resolve the issues and get our planning application re-submitted."
Stephen Kelly, divisional director of planning at Harrow Council, said: "Orley Farm School is in a conservation area and there are a number of important buildings on the site. The application was refused because the proposals were considered to cause unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the protected buildings and the conservation area.
"The proposals would also have served to increase the potential capacity of the school beyond the existing limits, imposed to help manage the traffic impacts of the school on South Field Avenue.
"Whilst the school have sought to increase this limit, there remain outstanding questions with regard to the impact of such a change."