KINGSTON Council is set to close public consultation and consider in detail proposed plans to build a new secondary school in north Kingston by 2015.

Currently, many secondary age children attend schools outside Kingston, and demand for more places in Kingston is high with a steep increase of at least 12 per cent in students needing a place for 2014.

Councillor Patricia Bamford, Executive Member for Children & Young People’s Services, said: “Our plans therefore reflect the need for the new secondary school, along with expansion of other schools, to meet overall demand and increase diversity and choice for parents, particularly in the north of the borough. To ensure that this significant rise in demand can be met, the Council made a commitment in December 2008 to build a new secondary school by 2014-15.”

If plans for the new secondary school in North Kingston are approved, then 240 year 7 places will be made available. But parents and teachers are concerned that the new school will not be completed in time for September 2015 intake, forcing students to travel further.

During the last meeting it was revealed that the council has no plan B if the proposed plan for the north Kingston site is scrapped. Many residents object to the proposed site over concerns that the local infrastructure is not built to cope with the extra students.

Previous proposed sites considered but rejected by the local authority have included: Entire Hawker Centre Site, Latchmere Recreation Ground, Latchmere Road, Kingston, Dinton Field, Park Road, Kingston, Kingfisher site, Fairfield Road, Kingston, Recreation Ground and Allotment Gardens.