Theale school plans on display today (Wednesday)

Community consultation being held today despite no decision on site

Theale villagers can view the latest proposals for a replacement for its primary school today – despite there being no agreement on where it should be built.

The Church Street school, rated outstanding by Ofsted, has been oversubscribed for a number of years. It currently has capacity for 210 children but needs to expand to cater for 315 children from September 2017.

Further, to cope with future housing developments, it will need to offer 420 places.

The district council secured £7m to build a replacement and has identified land at North Street playing fields as its preferred option. However, the land is owned by the Englefield Estate and Theale Parish Council holds the lease until 2029. The parish council will have to relinquish five acres of land for the school to be built.

Addressing residents at a meeting in June, council education officers said that if the school was to open in September 2017, a planning application would have to have been submitted last month.

The head of education at West Berkshire Council, Ian Pearson, told residents: “There’s an urgency to it which is why we are trying to move it along. If we don’t hit that deadline our options are limited. The issue is urgent; the money is limited and its availability is limited. We now leave it in the parish council’s hands.”

Theale Parish Council has since consulted with residents as to where they think the school should be built but has yet to decide on whether to hand over the land at North Street.

In spite of this, West Berkshire Council will be holding a community consultation at Holy Trinity Church today (Wednesday). Residents can view draft proposals for the school and consultants will answer questions.

When asked if the project was facing delays because a planning application had not been submitted, West Berkshire Council spokeswoman Peta Stoddart-Crompton said that November was an initial date.

Contractor Kier had now confirmed that an application date of February 2016 would still achieve the September 2017 opening date.

She said: “Thus no delay is currently anticipated. However, pending final agreement with Theale Parish Council for the release of their leasehold interest in the preferred site (North Street playing fields), the council is proceeding at their own risk with the design and planning of the school to ensure that everything possible is in place to meet the September 2017 deadline.”

Theale Parish Council said in a statement: “The parish council has a duty to endeavour to obtain ‘best price’ if it disposes of an asset such as public open space, football facilities and so on (best price can be in the form of a financial payment, alternative facilities, other assets etc).

“When West Berkshire Council requested Theale Parish Council relinquish its asset, the lease on land at North Street playing fields, the parish council instigated negotiations with Englefield Estate (the landowner wishing to sell the land in question) and West Berkshire Council (the prospective purchaser of the land) to see if this was achievable.

“These negotiations are still ongoing, therefore no decision has yet been made by the parish council. Any impression that may be given by a party other than Theale Parish Council that an agreement has been reached is incorrect.”

The consultation event will run from 3.30pm until 7pm on Wednesday, December 16, at Holy Trinity Church.