Which way ahead for Theale Primary School?

THEALE Primary School could move to a new location if a project to expand it comes to fruition.

The school has been oversubscribed for a number of years, with some children from the village unable to secure a place.

The district council wants to provide room for 45 pupils in all year groups and is considering expanding the school or building a new one. Any expansion would require the parish council to hand over part of the recreation ground to enable the project to commence.

The land is owned by Englefield Estate but the parish council is the long-term lease holder and rents the area for sports club training.

Speaking at a meeting of Theale Parish Council on Monday, clerk Jo Friend said: “What West Berks is asking is are we willing to give up that land to them?”

Chairman David Wood said: “It seems all the advantages are with West Berkshire Council and all of the disadvantages are with Theale Parish Council.”

Parish councillor Nick Flint said: “One of the things that gets me is we could be losing £2,000 a year and we should be recompense for that.”

Fellow councillor Jan Richardson said: “I worry that in 10 years time when the school needs to expand again, they will say can we have a bit more land.”

The district councillor for Theale, Alan Macro (Lib Dem), mentioned the possibilty that Englefield could have to lease or sell the land to the district council if the expansion took place.

A further complication was that the school would have to expand further when 350 homes at the Lakeside housing development, which the district council granted planning permission for in 2011, are built.

However, developer contributions towards education do not have to be paid until the first homes begin to be occupied.

Mr Macro said: “If push came to shove and the school could not be expanded then we might have to say yes.

"The big thing that concerns me is if the costs for building on a new site come in too high and we say they can't have that land it would put the school in jeopardy."

However, Mrs Friend said that West Berkshire Council was not in a position to make the right decision on the school’s future, as potential sites for a new school had not been identified.

Councillor Charles Bateman said: “At the present time the answer is no until we have more information.”

Mrs Friend said that the parish council had to consider loss of open space, income, training facilities and flood lights.

She also stressed that the parish council was not recommending the North Street playing fields as a site for a new school.

Parish councillors were also asked whether they would consider the school’s current site to be used for housing should the school migrate to a new site, to which Mr Macro agreed to in principle.

Parish councillors voted against handing over the land at the present time as they felt they did not have enough information on alternative options and that it would lead to a loss of public open space, training facilities and income for the parish council.

Mr Macro abstained from the vote.