Policy information sourced from The London Plan 2021

S3 Education and Childcare Facilities

  • To ensure there is a sufficient supply of good quality education and childcare facilities to meet demand and offer educational choice, boroughs should:
    • prepare Development Plans that are informed by a needs assessment of education and childcare facility needs. Needs should be assessed locally and sub-regionally, addressing cross-boundary issues. Needs assessments should include an audit of existing facilities.
    • identify sites for future provision through the Development Plan process, particularly in areas with significant planned growth or need for school places (including Special Educational Needs and Disability places)
    • ensure that development proposals for housing and commercial facilities incorporate suitable childcare provision and encourage nursery provision within primary schools, where there is a need.
  • Development proposals for education and childcare facilities should:
    • locate facilities in areas of identified need
    • locate facilities in accessible locations, with good public transport accessibility and access by walking and cycling
    • locate entrances and playgrounds away from busy roads, with traffic calming at entrances
    • link to existing footpath and cycle networks to create healthy routes to schools, and other education and childcare facilities, to enable all children to travel actively to school (walk, cycle or travel by public transport)
    • maximise the extended or multiple use of educational facilities for community or recreational use, through appropriate design measures
    • encourage the shared use of services between schools, colleges, universities, sports providers, and community facilities, and between early years and health and social care providers
    • ensure that new developments are accessible and inclusive for a range of users, including disabled people, by adopting an inclusive design approach
    • ensure that facilities incorporate suitable, accessible outdoor space
    • locate facilities next to parks or green spaces, where possible
  • Development proposals should ensure that there is no net loss of education or childcare facilities, unless it can be demonstrated that there is no ongoing or future need. Any proposed loss of sport or recreation land (including playing fields) should be considered against the requirements of Part C of Policy S5 Sports and recreation facilities.

For more information please see The London Plan 2021