A TWYFORD secondary school will be accommodate more than 200 additional pupils.
Wokingham Borough Council has approved a school expansion plan to meet demand at The Piggott School in Twyford Road.
It currently has 1,620 students and 175 staff, but the expansion increase capacity to 1,890 pupils.
To provide space for new entrants, a planning application was submitted for the reconfiguration of the existing dining hall into a new administration block, school entrance and dining hall, the construction of new multi-use dining hall and extension of the science block.
There will also be three new netball courts.
The council’s planning department acknowledged that the new buildings would be established on land designated in the Green Belt, which can only be built on in ‘special circumstances’ according to national planning law.
However, it was agreed that the loss of Green Belt land was outweighed by the need for new school places.
Cllr Stephen Conway (Liberal Democrats, Twyford) said: “This application is in the Green Belt, and ordinarily of course we would not allow development in the Green Belt.
“It would seem to me very clear that in this case those special circumstances operate.
“The special circumstance here really is the public good, the expansion of the school to admit greater capacity and ensure local children are able to attend their local school is a very important consideration.”
The expansion and new buildings were approved unanimously by Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, April 12.
You can view the approved application by typing reference 223613 into Wokingham Borough Council’s planning portal.
