SEN school agreed for Wokingham and Reading pupils

The new school will be built next to Wheatfield Primary School

Plans for a new special educational needs (SEN) school next to a motorway have been approved, despite concerns about increased traffic and pollution.

Wokingham borough councillors approved the scheme in Winnersh, Berkshire, on land between Wheatfield Primary School and the M4.

The school will provide 150 places for children in Wokingham and Reading and will be run by Maiden Erlegh Trust.

The project is being funded by the Department for Education.

Councillor Gary Cowan urged Wednesday's planning committee to be "very careful" about "putting a special needs school next to a motorway".

He said: "It's sad, it's a wonderful scheme located in completely the wrong place."

The council's case officer Sophie Morris told the meeting that environmental health officers and the Department for Education had assessed the project.

She said that although it was recognised the site was 0.3 miles (0.5km) from an existing air quality management area, it was thought people would not be impacted.