Former Hampstead Police Station

• IT is important to correct a few items in the letter from Linda Chung, (Let’s have the former police station back, July 2).

There are three important things to know about Abacus Belsize Primary School and the application to make the former Hampstead police station its permanent home.

Boris Johnson may have been wrong to reduce the police presence in the Hampstead area nearly 10 years ago, and no London mayor or home secretary has sought to correct the situation since.

However, even in the unlikely event that there was a sudden 10-fold increase in local police numbers they would fit comfortably in one small corner of the old station that was designed for policing in late Victorian times.

Yes, please bring police and safety back to our streets but do it sensibly.

Please stop these claims that play fast and loose with the lives and education of local children.

Just where are these 210 secular state school spaces within safe walking distance of Belsize?

Surely Linda Chung is not advocating that parents should all start driving their children to school in a myriad of different directions to the four corners of the borough and beyond, clogging already congested roads to have their children taught many miles from the community they live in?

The writer refers to inequality in society. In fact a good example of inequality would be not housing an oversubscribed secular state school that has been without a permanent building for seven years.

Abacus is a very successful, popular local school serving the very real and now well-established needs of the Belsize community.

Despite these uncertain times and the uncertain future location of the school, once again this year Abacus is oversubscribed with an intake from the Belsize catchment area, all ready to start in September.

Whatever is happening elsewhere in the borough, Belsize has a strong and ongoing need for school places.

Please, Ms Chung, stop your mean-spirited attacks on Abacus. This is my and my neighbours’ children you are talking about.

Real people that live in a real local community that you claim to want to protect with an increased police presence.

DARLA HOCKING,
NW3