A SITE for a new secondary school to meet imminent demand has been identified, according to the MP for Reigate.
Crispin Blunt says Surrey County Council has earmarked a location, as it plans to prevent the schools place crisis that has hit primaries in Reigate and Banstead graduating to our secondary schools.
However, he declined to say where. Mystifyingly, the council contradicted him, saying no site had been found.
"There is a site that is being looked at," said Mr Blunt.
He called on the authority to ensure there was progress with the plan.
"Secondary schools are full. The population has risen in my constituency by about 10 per cent between 2005 and 2010, and many of that is young families moving in to the area.
"The county council mismanaged the number of primary school places required and it led to an acute shortage."
"I am confident the county council is across this in a better way," he added.
"Secondary schools obviously have a larger catchment area so the site is less critical than for a primary."
Although there are enough secondary places in the borough at the moment, the council has predicted a shortfall by 2014.
Head teacher at The Warwick School in Redhill, Ron Searle, said he was not aware of a specific site for a new secondary, but suggested the Park 25 and Watercolour housing developments could generate increased demand in Redhill.
Mark Brunt, borough councillor for Merstham, has previously called for St Nicholas special school in Taynton Drive, Merstham, to revert back to a state secondary for the first time since the 1980s to plug the demand gap.
Council spokeswoman Joy Ridley said: "There is a need for secondary school expansion in Reigate and Banstead, and we are discussing this with the schools in the area. There are various options available to us, and there may be a need for a new site, but we haven't identified a site or preferred option at this stage."
Meanwhile, the search goes on for a site for a new primary school to cater for younger children in the Reigate area, according to Mr Blunt. As first reported by the Mirror last year, it is in addition to the new Lime Tree Primary School which will take its first pupils in September at a temporary site in Reigate and move to a new building in Merstham if plans currently being drawn up win approval.
Mr Blunt said: "The ideal thing would be to extend St John's Primary School [in Pendleton Road, Reigate] but that is physically not possible. But that would be the centre of the search."
