There is no plan B if proposals for a new secondary school on the North Kingston Centre site are rejected, council education chiefs told parents and residents at a public meeting this week.

Concerns about traffic and the size of the proposed eight form of entry school dominated questions at Tuesday’s meeting at Fern Hill Primary School, and officers said the plans would not go ahead if planning permission was rejected at a later stage.

Many people raised fears about the impact on local infrastructure of placing the school between Tiffin Girls’ and Fern Hill, despite a commitment to ensure staggered opening and closing times and conduct a traffic impact assessment in the next two months.

One resident drew applause when he said: “You are planning a very big school that will not really fit and expecting people to get in and out every day. The roads will be crowded and the buses will be impossible. It seems an impossible plan.”

The current plans envisage placing both the school and sixth form on the site of the North Kingston Centre, but using the Hawker Centre for some sporting facilities, prompting concerns from existing users about restricted access.

But Scott Herbertson, head of Kingston Council’s cultural services and lifelong learning, said: “There is no incompatibility with adults using the facilities while students are using them because the students will be accompanied by adults who have been CRB checked.”

Officers said the new school would not take land away from Fern Hill or Tiffin Girls’, and a current right of way used by people in houses behind the site would have to be respected.

In a change to the published timetable, a planning development brief will be prepared in June and July this year and a detailed planning application, which will be subject to a separate consultation, will not be submitted until early next year.

The council revealed it had already hired a firm of architects, A Studio, and was exploring whether some parts of the existing North Kingston Centre building could be incorporated into the design.

Parents and residents have until February 26 to respond to the consultation, which can be completed on the council’s website or by post.

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