CONSTRUCTION of the new Marlborough St Mary's Primary School is set to begin after a committee decided to grant planning permission at a meeting last week.

At the planning meeting last night (Thursday May 12) in Devizes Sports Club, London Road, councillors from Wiltshire Council, Marlborough Town Council and members of the new primary school’s committee were in attendance to vote on whether the planning permission for the new site would be granted.

Mark Thomas, chairman of the new school's governors, speaking on Friday, said: "The Governors are obviously delighted that the Wiltshire Planning Committee unanimously resolved to grant planning permission for the new school on Thursday evening and would like to thank all those who wrote to the Council expressing support for the project.

"This was the last major hurdle to be crossed and will allow the contracts for the new building to be finalised over the coming days ready to begin construction in early July. We are now very close to getting our brand new primary school for the children of Marlborough."

Members of Wiltshire Council were also happy to see the plans go through, commenting on the need for a new primary school in the town.

Councillor Charles Howard, chairman of the Eastern Area Planning Committee, said: “It went more smoothly than I expected, the only issue was the parking but everyone was happy with the design of the school and happy that the school is going to be built.

“This will mean there will be an excellent primary school in Marlborough, which is needed as St Peter’s is quite old now.”

The main issue that arose throughout the meeting was the impact the traffic would have on the area, with the new school backing onto Duck Meadow.

Coun Howard added: “The only person to speak against the plans was Mr Hutt who lives in Ducks Meadow. He expressed his view of the desirability of having the new school but opened up about the difficulties about the additional traffic.”

To address the issues with the parking and traffic concerns the committee discussed the school travel plan which will be enforced. The plan detailed how parents will be urged not to use Ducks Meadow when picking up their children but instead go to the George Lane parking.

Parents who live between 500-1,000 metres from the school will also be given permits. To make sure that the plans will benefit the nearby residents, the school committee and the highways committee will review the plans after the school opens.