Parish chiefs at North Baddesley are angry that more than £200,000 secured from developers is set to go towards improving a school outside the village.

Parish council chairman David Knight said it is wrong that the £215,858.00 obtained through a 106 agreement between borough planners and the developer building 37 new homes at Baddesley Close is going to a Halterworth primary School in Romsey.

Mr Knight: “We believe the money should go to the two Baddesley schools. More classrooms are needed. This money could have gone towards purpose-built classrooms because they are desperately needed. It’s crazy that all this money is going to the wrong place. It’s needed here.”

Mr Knight’s wife, Irene, has also demanded to know why Halterworth is getting the cash and why councillors were not consulted before a decision was made.

“I think the local community should have been involved in the decision,” she said.

“Neither the county councillor or borough councillors or Test Valley’s planning department were informed that the money was destined to go to Halterworth. If they had, they may have had an opportunity to challenge the decision.”

Mrs Knight who took the matter up with Hampshire’s school organisation officer Glenn Parkinson.

Hampshire’s Baddesley division member Alan Dowden is also unhappy that the money has gone to Halterworth.

“HCC say there is no a need for places at schools in the village but they are full up and can’t take any more children. Anyone moving into the area hasn’t got any hope of getting their child in to schools in Baddesley,” said Mr Dowden, who said there was a similar shortage of places at Valley Park and Chandler’s Ford.

He added: “The whole issue of school places needs to be looked at again because there is clearly a shortage. HCC claim there are enough spaces at Baddesley schools, so they are giving this money to Halterworth.”

Mr Dowden said that with more homes planned for North Baddesley the need for more places will become even more apparent.

Officials at Hampshire’s education department say that the proposed 300-home Hoe Lane development at North Baddesley falls within the Halterworth School catchment area, so people from the village will benefit from the money going to Halterworth.

However, Mr Dowden believes sending children from North Baddesley to Halterworth will only cause more congestion around the Romsey school.

“Rather than walk to school, parents will drive their children to school. People are already complaining about cars being parked along Halterworth Lane and this will not help the situation,” he concluded.

Hampshire’s cabinet spokes-person for education, Peter Edgar said that the authority will be reviewing needs for primary school places in the area.

He also said that discussions had taken place between the county council and the North Baddesley schools before the decision was made to allocate the cash to Halterworth.

“The development at Baddesley Close is not large enough to warrant a school expansion in its own right so discussions took place with the North Baddesley schools to explore how additional places could be provided to meet long-term demand,” said Mr Edgar.

“When we were asked by TVBC to name a school that might require developer funding for primary school infrastructure, it was logical at that time to suggest Halterworth, as the Hoe Lane development is within the school’s catchment area, and in order to consolidate possible school expansion in one location.”