Schools in Worcester Park

[Sandra09092000]

My husband and I are considering offering on a house in the Hamptons in Worcester Park but don't know the area very well. Is anyone here familiar with this area or specifically the Hamptons? Is it safe? Are the local schools (Dorchester Primary, Green Lane Primary) any good? What is it like to live in the Hamptons/ does the development have a community feel to it?

Not sure about the schools. Have you viewed the house? There is a lot of building work going on as a whole block of flats burned down in about 30 minutes a year or 2 ago as the wooden cladding wasn’t fire proof. I think the whole area was originally built on sewer works too.
I know a lot of houses have cladding too but some has been replaced. I’m not sure if I’d want to live there but it depends what you like.

Google fire at the Hamptons Worcester Park. it was terrifying how quickly the entire block burned.

@Shinyrainbows Thank you - yes we've viewed the house and really liked it. We've heard about the fire, the estate agent is telling us the cladding issues in the house have been fixed. May I ask why you are not too sure about the Hamptons as a development?

It’s just a bit open to the public for me and from what I’ve seen a lot of people walk their dogs their and I’m not sure about the house you’re looking at but some of them appear to have very little privacy and small gardens.
When they were first built there was outcry that there was a ‘private’ vs ‘housing association’ section and somehow the children of the housing association properties had a curfew but the children from the private houses didn’t. I’m not sure if this has been addressed now.
Again it depends on your own preferences but for me I don’t like the exposed feel and everybody passing by. Tbf, I haven’t been their too often so if you like it, don’t let my opinions sway. I live in the area and the train service has reduced dramatically since Covid too & I’m not sure if the pre pandemic service will ever be reinstated.

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Thanks - this is really helpful. We didn't know about the issues and the curfew, we'll try to find out more about it. I get what you mean regarding the lack of privacy, luckily the house we're looking at is in a very small side road and not facing any of the main communal areas. What was the train service like pre covid? At the minute there seem to be 2 hourly services from Worcester Park and 4 from Motspur Park.

Hi @Sandra09092000, sorry, I haven’t been logged in for a while. Did you offer on the house? In the morning rush hour there used to be around 5-6 trains, & 4 throughout the rest of the day/weekends. They’ve now added 1 extra in the morning so 3, but still only 2 in the evenings from Waterloo btwn 5-6pm, there used to be 5. It really is a dramatic reduction & I’m not sure how busy the trains will be, if they don’t increase the service again.

Hi @Shinyrainbows thank you so much for the info. Yes we offered on the house and are in the process of buying it :) We very much hope that the pre- pandemic service will be reinstated at some point - 5-6 trains per hour would be brilliant!
On another note, do you know if there are issues with flooding in the area? The environmental search just came back with a moderate risk for surface water flooding and we are a bit concerned.

Hi @Sandra09092000 I haven’t heard of any flooding or experienced any but I live in the total opposite direction, so possibly around 1.5-2 miles away. The only flooding I remember in the last 20 years was in Motspur Park around Burlington Lane, near Shannon Corner/ the train bridge as I think there is a stream there? I think the Hamptons is located at the top of a hill, so I’d imagine it would be ok? I’m sure it would show up on your searches if there’d been recent flooding.
Congratulations, I hope you enjoy living in the area. my kids have grown up now, so I’m not overly familiar with schools etc.

Hi @Shinyrainbows thank you that's very good to know, we're really looking forward to moving there :)

@Sandra09092000 Now would be a very good time to check if the property you’re buying is affected by flooding as the environmental agency has issued flood warnings for Motspur/Worcester Park, related to the Beverly Brook flooding yesterday. Google flooding Worcester Park & you’ll see the map. The area under the bridge at the station was flooded yesterday. I’m not sure how it affected the area around the Hamptons?

@Shinyrainbows Thank you so much! We googled it straight away - it looks pretty bad.. From what we saw online and when we went there this evening, luckily it doesn't seem like the Hamptons are affected. Hope you're well and not impacted by the flooding either.

Just thought I would add a couple of other schools to your list to look at - friends that have lived in the Hamptons have had children go to these schools (in the past - obviously check current catchment !) Green Lane , Cheam Common , Dorchester , Cuddington Community.
All are completely different (eg ranging from one form entry to four form entry) so definitely worth doing tours when you can again.
I have heard the Hamptons has a good community - fireworks , craft fairs etc so I hope it goes back to that after the pandemic for you.
I have found Worcester park to be a very friendly place with children - lots of toddler groups / soft play places / parks etc

One thing - secondary catchments here can be a bit of a nightmare - it’s a grammar school area and some of the outstanding comprehensives also have small catchments - so not sure how old your children are but that’s something to consider in the future !