A PREP school is making big plans to expand to make more room for pupils and improve teaching facilities.
Priory Preparatory School in Banstead has submitted a planning application to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council for a new building which will house eight classrooms.
Governors at the all-boys school, which was founded in 1921 and currently has about 200 students, also want to create two larger teaching spaces with room for extra facilities.
But, since being placed on the council's website, the plans have come in for criticism.
One Bolters Lane resident writes: "My concern rests with the potential number of pupils that the school may aspire to. In theory it could almost double pupil numbers.
"In my experience the school does not have a good record of relating to its neighbours and is quite frivolous in its ability to apply a major obstruction to Bolters Lane by parking coaches that often wait a considerable time for pupils to fill them. I would be less concerned if the decision gave a specific limit of pupils that cannot be exceeded without a further application to the council, preferably the existing 200."
The Banstead Village Residents Association, local councillors and neighbours are currently being consulted on the plans, before a final decision is made later in the year.
It is hoped the development, if approved by the council's planning committee, will be completed in time for the new academic year in September.
Following a meeting of the school's governors last Wednesday, head teacher Graham Malcolm declined to comment on the school's plans or aspirations.
