FREE SCHOOL SITE PROPOSAL ON SCHOOL PLAYING FIELD LAND IN BRIGHTON AND HOVE

That this House is opposed to the proposal by the Secretary of State for Education to concrete over a significant section of a playing field used by Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College and Stanford Junior and Infant Schools, to provide a site for a new free school; notes that the playing fields are used daily by the schools and local community; also notes the schools' joint statement that the plan would severely impair the institutions' provision for sports and permanently remove a vital green space in the heart of a densely populated city; further notes that removing this field would leave the infant and junior schools with only a concrete playground; believes that this plan flies in the face of the UK's Olympic legacy; further notes the village green application pending on this site; regrets the appalling lack of communication with the four schools from the Education Funding Agency; backs the Notice of Motion passed by Brighton and Hove City Council opposing the imposition of new school sites by central Government; applauds the strong local resistance to this proposal which rides roughshod over the community's wishes; and calls on the Secretary of State to withdraw it immediately.