Save the Hextable
Secondary School Site

Save the Hextable Secondary School Site

I have launched a petition calling for Reform-run Kent County Council to immediately abandon its urgent plans to sell off the Hextable Secondary School site (former Oasis Academy) to facilitate up to hundreds of flats being built.

The school site, which has been a part of the Hextable and Swanley community for decades, is vital to ensuring we have a future educational site for our area.

Currently Hextable and Swanley have no sixth form secondary school provision at all, meaning students who want to continue their studies must travel out of area, incurring greater expense and travel times. Additionally, Orchards Academy is almost full and soon we might need more secondary school space.

I, together with local Conservative and Independent councillors, have always believed that this site should be available to meet local educational needs by offering more school choice for Swanley and Hextable children.

We must not let Reform UK sell off this vital site, simply to fix the budget gap that has now amassed under their watch. Despite County Council finances always being tight every year, previous administrations never concluded selling this site was needed, even in the toughest times.

Our former Conservative Kent County Councillors Perry Cole, and Michael Horwood, fought hard to protect this site from being sold off. They equally fought for the Birchwood School (off Russett Way, Swanley) site to be protected from being sold. It was only because of their perseverance that we are now in line to have a new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) school for Swanley and Hextable, thanks to the site being kept vacant and funding agreed by the previous Conservative Government.

There is also no clear indication of how parking will be protected on the site for the cherished Howard Venue as a result of the sale, as all the car park area is included in the sale proposal. We cannot allow the development to mean future visitors to the centre have to park on Egerton Avenue, College Road and other local roads; which is not only unsuitable for those with mobility issues but will also have a serious impact on parking on local roads.

Please complete the below petition and survey to show your support for our campaign to stop this site being sold off for good. Once it is gone, it’s gone forever, and it will leave our community without any future educational provision for local families.

Rt Hon Laura Trott MBE MP