Wandsworth Council has been discussing turning the closing Oasis Academy Putney into a community hub since November 2025, documents show, while publicly saying no decision had been made on the building’s future.
The talks were never disclosed, despite residents repeatedly asking for updates and despite the issue being covered in some depth at two election hustings in April. A Labour candidate told the West Putney hustings the council was “committed to keeping that building for educational purposes.” The council had been in discussions about an alternative use for four months by then.
The documents were released under a freedom of information request answered this week, four months late.
What the documents show
In November 2025, Oasis CEO John Barneby wrote to Lisa Fenaroli, Wandsworth’s Director of Education, formally notifying the school’s closure and proposing that Oasis retain the building as an “Oasis Village”: a hub for children who are struggling with, or not attending, mainstream education, bringing together charities, food banks, clothes banks and statutory agencies under one roof and offering after-school enrichment, therapeutic activities and short-term placements. Oasis runs one in Tulse Hill and announced a Wirral Council partnership in early 2026.
Fenaroli replied that she was “happy to work with you to explore what is needed in Wandsworth and how we might utilise the building to deliver the biggest impact following closure of the school.”
In December 2025, Oasis wrote again asking Fenaroli to meet its Director of Projects, Liz Bickerstaffe, to explore “this possible ‘village’ option” and understand “Wandsworth’s position on this or any related site use.” A Teams meeting was set for 20 January 2026.
The legal problem nobody mentioned
An Oasis Village would likely require a new access agreement from the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators (WPCC).
Clause 2.2 of the 2014 Deed of Easement conditions the access road across Putney Lower Common on the site being used as “a school substantially providing education free at the point of delivery” under public education legislation.
An Oasis Village is explicitly for children who are not in mainstream education. The Deed requires a school providing free education. Those two things may not be compatible. When the school closes, the access right lapses and the plans for a Village would likely not revive it, opening up a legal can of worms.
The WPCC is a charity under the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act 1871, with a legal duty to act in the public interest. Any future access deal requires its agreement, and on better terms than last time.
The 2014 Deed became the subject of a Charity Commission statutory inquiry in 2016 after the WPCC granted the access right for £350,000 without commissioning a surveyor’s report, as charity law requires. A retrospective valuation found the easement was worth between £675,000 and £950,000; an internal WPCC assessment put it at up to £1.9 million. The Commission found “mismanagement or misconduct” and appointed an interim manager in 2017. Any future negotiation would need to be at proper market value with independent advice.
What residents were told
At the Putney Society hustings on 13 April, Green Party candidate Hannah Manthorpe said she had visited the school the week before, met Rosie who runs The Scrubbery, a community sewing charity in the building, and argued it “should absolutely not be sat there empty.” The Scrubbery had spoken to the council about staying on as a caretaker presence.
Two days later in Roehampton, the question was asked directly and the Labour candidate said the council was “committed to keeping that building for educational purposes.” The council had been in discussions with Oasis about a non-educational use for four months.
In responses to Putney.news, Oasis confirmed in May that the building is owned by Wandsworth Council and that its own rights to the site end when the school closes. “Decisions about the building’s future use will therefore sit with the local authority,” a spokesperson said. Oasis said it understood the council intended to continue using the site for educational purposes, but added that the council would need to confirm that. No mention was made about Oasis’ village proposal.
The school is due to close this summer after the Department for Education granted in-principle approval in May. Three organisations currently use the building: Wild About Play, a forest nursery; The Scrubbery; and Boathouse Church.
It’s quiet incredible how the culture of secrecy has been a pattern of the previous Wandsworth administration hope that the new one will make things more democratic and that citizens can have access to reliable informations in due time.
One way round this, I’ve discovered since the hustings, is that it might be possible to the avoid the legal issues with the commons charity by moving one of the other local mainstreams schools eg Hotham into the wonderful, modern Oasis premises & then changing the usage of the vacated school into this amazing Village. Not my idea but one that was shared with me by a local resident after the hustings.