PLANS to rebuild a 109-year-old primary school have been given the go-ahead despite strong opposition.

Work on Gordonbrock Primary School in Brockley was due to begin in April but was put on hold after Brockley Society took legal action.

At a council planning meeting on September 2, mum-of-two Lea Chilcott, said: “The school is no longer fit for purpose. It’s in a desperate need.

“The classrooms are inadequately designed for hot or cold weather and the children have to use outside toilets.”

A petition with 423 signatures was handed into the council in April supporting its £11m plans to partially demolish and refurbish the school in Gordonbrock Road.

In December last year Lewisham Council did not conduct an environmental impact assessment for the plans, which it was legally required to do.

This allowed Brockley Society to delay the work for six months.

The Society put forward its own plans to save the Edwardian buildings and also handed in a petition with 500 signatures opposing the project.

Society spokesman Rob Park said: “These structures are part of our environment they actually emerged from the ground we walk on.

“Why are we destroying something beautiful and rooted?”

But a panel of councillors unanimously agreed to grant the project planning permission.

After the meeting Anne Mcinerney, who has two children at the school, said: “I’m absolutely delighted. Maybe we can look forward to having a decent school for our children before the Olympics.”

The school’s weathervane and school badge will be retained from the old building and replaced in the new school.

Other planning permission outcomes

Pendragon School in Pendragon Road, Downham, was granted planning permission to demolish the existing building and replace it with four one to two storey buildings positioned around a central courtyard. Residents from the street attended the meeting to oppose the plans.

Prendergast Hilly Fields in Adelaide Avenue, Brockley, was also granted permission to refurbish a listed building and demolish an existing building. A two to four storey extension to the sports hall was granted as well as the construction of a new three storey building.

Bonus Pastor Catholic College in Winlaton Road and Churchdown Road, Downham, was granted permission for new buildings at both sites.