Borough plan for Hindu faith school ‘is UK first’ (From Times Series)

Borough plan for Hindu faith school ‘is UK first’

10:20am Thursday 3rd May 2007 in

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An independent charity has applied to Harrow Council for planning permission to build the UK's first Hindu faith-based voluntary aided school in Edgware.

The I-Foundation, which aims to establish sustainable projects that further the advancement of Vedic culture and philosophy, has lodged the application.

Vedic culture derives from the Vedas, the oldest scriptural texts of Hinduism.

The proposals are for a one-form entry, mixed primary school for 210 pupils, with a 26-place nursery, on the William Ellis Playing Field, Camrose Avenue, Edgware.

It will be named the Krishna-Avanti Primary School.

As a voluntary aided school, 80 per cent of funding for the school would come from the Department for Education and Skills, and 20 per cent from the I-Foundation. Pupils would have to follow the national curriculum. Nitesh Gor, director of I-Foundation, said: "We have consulted extensively with the local community over the past six months and feel that the planning application we have submitted is for a school that can be a beacon for Harrow Council and something the whole community can be proud of."

At the moment the site is used by Belmont Football Club, which has given its support to the plans.

It is proposed that the school will take up about half of the current site, while drainage and changing facilities to be used by the football club on the other half are set to be improved.

The school development overall will include an amenity space, playing fields, parking spaces, and a drop-off zone so that parents do not pick up and drop off children in the surrounding roads.

According to the plans, energy at the school will be generated using sustainable methods such as ground source heat pumps, photovoltaics and solar thermal collectors.

Other features may include a sedum roof (a moss layer which acts as an insulator and flowers in the spring), a facility for rainwater harvesting and an ecology area in the grounds.

A decision will be made on the application by Harrow Council in the summer.

mcraig@london.newsquest.co.uk