NEW plans have been submitted for the expansion of Robert May’s School in Odiham.

Plans were submitted to Hampshire County Council on August 18 and propose the expansion of the school by one form of entry for the year 2019, with associated remodelling and expansion of car park and coach drop off.

The project will look to add four general teaching classrooms, one dry lab, one new library, and a reception, associated general office and auxiliary areas.

The library will also be remodelled into a ‘super lab’, with the inclusion of a dining area.

The new block will add a lift and a bridge to link it back to the existing school.

A separate set of plans also propose the construction of two grass sports pitches for school use, including associated earthworks, fencing and drainage at Bufton Field adjacent to the school.

The secondary school currently caters for children aged between 11 and 16 and has a capacity of 1,200 pupils.

The proposed expansion would increase the capacity to 1,350 pupils, equating to a cumulative increase of 150 pupils.

In a transport statement provided by Hampshire Services, it states that a bulge year seven will be filled this September and will be an isolated larger year until the first extra 30 pupils start in year seven in September 2019.

The bulge year pupils are included within the 150-pupil increase.

In total, 152 members of staff are currently employed at the school, consisting of 90 teaching staff and 62 non-teaching staff. This is proposed to increase to 163 following the expansion, and is to be comprised of six new teaching staff and five new non- teaching staff.

The plans were validated soon after their submission and a public consultation started on August 25 and will run until September 16.

Should the plans be approved, the report sates: “It is anticipated that 24 additional two-way trips and nine additional one-way trips will occur in the morning peak hour. While the same number of vehicular trips will occur in the afternoon, it is anticipated that these will be spread out between 2.20pm and 3.30pm due to pupils attending after-school clubs, and later as staff leave the site.”

The plans to expand the school have been in the public domain for some time, with an initial public consultation on the enlargement of Robert May’s open between March 1 and April 15 this year. During that time, 11 residents and parents raised concerns regarding traffic around the school, particularly at drop off and collection times, and three e-mails were received raising concerns over traffic and parking around the school.

The main concerns were in regards to the number of vehicles parking outside the front of the school at drop off and collection times, early arrival of school buses, and their location on the highway and parking on the bend of West Street opposite Robert Mays Road.

Also highlighted was the traffic on North Warnborough Street and the safety of the Weston Lane and Dunley’s Hill junction.

It was then suggested by those with concerns that the introduction of a controlled pedestrian crossing point in the vicinity of the eastern vehicular access to the school to aid pedestrians crossing West Street could solve some of the issues raised about traffic and child safety.

However, a recent safety audit as stated in the transport statement found that the site would be “unsuitable for a pedestrian crossing and that any further narrowing of the pedestrian crossing points would impede the movement of coaches into and out of the site.

“Consequently, it is considered that there are no significant highways and transportation matters that should prevent this planning application from being approved.”

Comments can be made until next Friday and the plans can be viewed at planning.hants.gov.uk, searching for 16/02229/HCC.