PARENTS have continued to express their concern over plans to expand a local primary school.
Aldryngton, off Silverdale Road in Earley, is slated to see class sizes grow this September assuming a consultation organised by Wokingham Borough Council gives the green light.
But there are fears that the expansion plans is not safe, and that an increase in the volume of traffic will mean that children will be at risk from accidents.
Two weeks ago, two five-year-olds where involved in an incident where a reversing car pinned them to a phone box by the entrance road to the school. One child was airlifted to Oxford for hospital treatment while the other was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital.
One parent, who didn’t wish to be named, told The Wokingham Paper: “I am greatly concerned about safety in relation to the trip to/from school. WBC seem to intent on pushing this through without listening to anyone’s opinion aside from where it is mandated that they do so.
“[There will be] a lot more journeys as people from out of catchment bring their children into school, and the council stating that they can park in locations which actually in reality are not available. The council really should know better than to mislead everyone.”
Another parent expressed concerns over plans to expand Maiden Erlegh secondary school by 180 pupils in three years time. The two schools share the same access road, which is by a parade of shops that will soon see a new tenant move in.
He added: “A new Tesco store will open up soon, metres from the school site. When asked on January 16 at the general public consultation meeting what additional volume of traffic was predicted as part of this store, the answer was ‘I don’t know’.”
And another parent said: “Adding an additional 105 primary school children to the footfall in the area surrounding the school would be dangerous. By expanding the school it is also highly likely that far more parents will be travelling by car. WBC has ignored this in their traffic planning which is causing a great deal of concern in the community.”
There have also been concerns from the local Liberal Democrat councillor Clive Jones, who said he has met with parents.
He said: “The Aldryngton/Maiden Erlegh site is overcrowded with 2200 pupils there everyday. When Tesco open their doors at the Maiden Over it will be even worse.
“Councillors must listen to local people and STOP these plans.
“The council should be spending its money upgrading the current school buildings which are in need of some TLC.”
Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, executive member for children’s services, said: “Currently there is a shortage of school places available in the Earley area. An illustration of this, in 2016, 13 local children from within the designated area (the school’s local catchment area) for Aldryngton School could not be offered a reception place at the school.
“However, the proposed expansion will not proceed this year unless a continuing need for these places is demonstrated in primary school applications in March. If the scheme receives planning consent and the council decides not to proceed with the proposed expansion this year it could be introduced in the next three years if the need arises, so that Earley residents can be confident the council will ensure reception places will be available locally.
“A consultation on these proposals runs until Thursday March 2.”
