The former care home will be bulldozed to make way for the New Malden School expansion

Plans have been submitted to demolish a former care home and physiotherapy practice in south London to accommodate the expansion of a junior school. Hobkirk House and the Noble Centre, in New Malden, will be bulldozed to provide extra much-needed play space for Burlington Junior School.

Kingston Council has applied for prior approval to demolish both buildings on Blagdon Road, north of the school, which are no longer in use. Hobkirk House was a care home, while the Noble Center was a physiotherapy practice. The rest of the wider Noble Hobkirk site is set to be sold.

It comes after the council approved plans to expand the school in 2022 by bulldozing the main building for a new teaching block and gym, along with the addition of two new multi-purpose games areas and a playground. The scheme will expand the school from four to five entry forms.

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The Department for Education (DfE) has advised that the extended school will need an additional 8% of play space to meet existing provision. The council explored various options to enable this and chose the demolition of Hobkirk House and the Noble Center as their preferred option.

A report with the application said the DfE had set December 31 as the deadline for completing the extra play space. He added: “In addition, there is a potential buyer for the northern portion of the site. If the site is not available to the prospective buyer by the same date of December 31, 2024, with all buildings demolished and the site vacated, then the buyer will have the option to terminate the land purchase transaction.

“This therefore presents a financial risk to the council and a risk to the school in delivering the additional play space required. This application for prior approval of the demolition works is intended to advance the scheme and development process to meet these important deadlines. “

Kingston Council will decide on the application in due course. A separate planning application for the proposed works to create additional play space for the school is expected to be submitted in the summer.

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