The director of St. Julian’s School stated yesterday in court that the suspension of the urbanization works at Quinta dos Ingleses, in Carcavelos, has hampered the rehabilitation and expansion of the facilities and that the delay forced a revision of the project.
According to Paul Morgan, the approval of the subdivision at Quinta dos Ingleses, an area that also includes St. Julian’s, took more than two and a half decades, and the school has a strong need for “renovation works” and “improvements”.
The head of the school spoke at the Sintra Administrative and Fiscal Court (TAF), during the hearing of the precautionary measure to stop the Quinta dos Ingleses urbanization, arising from the popular action of the movement 66 Pela Quinta against the municipality of Cascais, in the Lisbon district, with Alves Ribeiro and St. Julian’s School as the opposing parties.
In response to the school’s lawyer, Morgan explained that the project aims to recover the historic buildings of the educational establishment, dating from the 18th century, with classrooms in spaces that “were not designed to be a school” and to curb the problems of infiltration when it rains or during excessive heat.
According to the project, the classrooms will have a “more uniform configuration,” in addition to improved circulation spaces and new sports facilities, and a new building is also planned, which will host rotating students while the original buildings are rehabilitated, keeping the teaching activity in operation.
The official admitted that the precautionary measures for the Quinta dos Ingleses project represent “costs” for the school, preventing them from carrying out the long-planned infrastructure and surrounding-area projects.
Questioned by the lawyer for 66 Pela Quinta, Paul Morgan summarized the investments in some improvements with the installation of air conditioning in the classrooms and painting of the buildings, but refused that it would be feasible to license structural works independently of the approved development.
Although Alves Ribeiro had begun the works in 2024, the St. Julian’s director admitted that the school’s works did not progress because it was necessary to revisit the project, “which had been done a long time ago,” with a revision of the proposal, which “was too onerous.”
Regarding costs not being due solely to the precautionary measures, he commented that they also “did not help”.
The school’s financial and administrative director, Adela Metaxa, considered the recovery of the facilities to be “urgent and critical,” noting that the longer they wait “the worse the situation” of the buildings and the conditions for the school community, since “students in summer are hot, in winter they are cold.”
In addition, the school is surrounded by mounds resulting from earth movement, currently suspended, and the official said she fears that, with the upcoming rains, landslides may occur that threaten the school, as it is “in the middle of a construction site”.
The school, she added, hired a company to analyze air quality and installed “air purifiers” in the classrooms due to the dust from the works.
Questioned by the lawyer for 66 Pela Quinta whether the results were available, Adela Metaxa answered that the data belong to the school, but did not show “any problem,” and that they invited groups of parents to learn of the results.
Regarding investments, the financial director estimated that the school has spent 2.2 million euros on projects and feasibility studies, and since November of last year they spent “another million” on landscaping projects across the seven hectares of the property.
The movement 66 Pela Quinta filed the popular action with the aim of preserving the 52 hectares of Quinta dos Ingleses as an urban park and “natural extension” of the beach, challenging the planned project for the site, which contemplates 850 apartments, a shopping center and a hotel.
The hearing of witnesses for the precautionary measure, filed in October 2025, which ordered the halt of the works, ended today, after Cascais City Hall, Alves Ribeiro and St. Julian’s waived the testimonies scheduled for October 13, with no date yet set for the decision by the judge of the Sintra TAF.
