CONTROVERSIAL plans to build Churcher's new junior school on its Ramshill campus in Petersfield have been put on hold while the school looks for an alternative site.
Churcher's finally got the go-ahead for its junior school in March this year after 15 months of delays in negotiations to build on the college campus.
The governors had to go back to the drawing board two years earlier when their plan to build at Penns Place was thrown out by East Hampshire District Council planners.
The green light for the building at Ramshill came only after lengthy debates by East Hampshire district councillors, who were concerned about the dangers of more traffic in Love Lane which, they said, was already heavily used by parents dropping children at Herne Junior School.
Churcher's had amended its plans to remove car access to the new school from Love Lane but councillors felt parents might still be tempted to drop their children by the footpath access if it was an easy option.
This week David Robbins, bursar at Churcher's College, told The Herald that the school had decided to continue looking for alternative sites for the new junior school, after examining the detailed planning conditions for the proposed site on Nicholsons Field.
"A number of the conditions are unacceptable and unworkable in a school setting, including severe restrictions on pick-up and collection times.
"At the present time, confidential negotiations are proceeding regarding alternative sites."
Mr Robbins added: "At a routine meeting of junior school parents earlier this week, the chairman of the governors, vice-chairman Michael Gallagher and headmaster Geoffrey Buttle sought to explain the current position and to confirm the positive future for the junior school."
He added: "Once the necessary agreements have been reached, a further meeting of parents will be arranged to release more detailed information."
Keith Goffe, for the Rother Residents' Association, said this week the group welcomed Chrucher's decision to continue looking for an alternative site.
"We recognise Churcher's dilemma and realise they must find a site for their new school, but we honestly believe that the Nicholsons Field was completely the wrong site.
"The Rother Residents' Association was formed because we believed the scheme was ill thought-out with all the traffic implications.
"It was safety at the end of the day that was one of the main concerns of the residents."