Plans approved to move school despite concerns

Reigate Priory Junior School will move from its current Grade-I listed building after plans were approved by Surrey County Council

Plans to move a Surrey school have been approved despite the road safety concerns of parents and councillors.

Reigate Priory Junior School will move to a new site within Surrey County Council's headquarters in Woodhatch Place, following a decision by the authority's planning committee on Wednesday.

Parents have warned the new location, which will serve 600 pupils, poses risks to children walking or scootering along a busy A-road, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Headteacher Oliver Moses said the current site – a Grade I-listed Victorian building – was "unfit for purpose" and "not acceptable".

Mr Moses said: "We are compromising children's education and wellbeing every single day we remain in it.

"Rising energy costs, endless maintenance and operation costs are pulling us away from our key mission - caring for children.

"A new site will let us direct those funds to where they belong, into the classroom."

Parent Chris Morris said families were "extremely disappointed" by the decision and wanted to "keep an outstanding school where it is".

He said parents were exploring options to challenge the decision, including looking at a judicial review.

Surrey's principal highways officer said the plans included a significant number of highway improvements but said it would not be an "unusually car dependent school site".

Councillor Ernest Mallett MBE rebutted concerns, saying "we are in the age of the car" and telling the committee: "Wherever the school is were going to have traffic problems."

Councillor Jonathan Hulley, cabinet member for children, families and lifelong learning, said the decision "was not an easy one".

He added: "It's an absolutely fantastic school but the building is a monument - its antiquated and beautiful, but old."

Councillor Hulley added that the council would operate a shuttle bus service from the new site to the town centre, should the changes be made.

Correction 25 July: This article originally said that Surrey's principal highways officer said that the plans needed a significant number of highways improvements and that it would be an "unusually car dependent school site". It has been amended to state that he said plans included a significant number of highway improvements and that it would not be an "unusually car dependent school site".