A Winchester school that champions its eco-credentials has asked planners if it can concrete over its pond.

But parents say putting a temporary classroom on the pond at St Bede Primary School will deprive youngsters of a key resource, and is contrary to its environmental pledges.

However, school officials say the extra space is vital to accommodate the popular school’s growing intake.

Former mayor, Cllr Dominic Hiscock, chair of governors at St Bede, said some classes might have to be taken in the music room, if plans were not approved by September.

He added the school’s original plan to put a temporary classroom in St Peter’s car park had been scuppered by objections from the Environment Agency.

One parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “It’s all a bit of a shambles at the moment, there’s very high feeling in the school between people who want it and people who don’t.

“It’s like the school has accepted all these children without getting the infrastructure in place.

“Parents are concerned that they are cramming too much into that small site.”

Michelle Gent, of Monks Road, commenting on the plans, said: “The school already has little enough green space, it seems very wrong to start building on it. What message does this give to our children?”

Nigel Holliday, also of Monks Road, in a letter to Winchester planners, said: “As parents of children at St Bede Primary School we feel this loss of a green area is unacceptable.

“It sends out the wrong message to children and reduces the available space for them to be outside.

“This part of the school should be cherished, and the school should be using this valuable asset more frequently — not considering concreting over it!”

Martin Polley, of Upper Brook Street, told planners: “It should be possible to locate this temporary building in the car park, at no cost to the school’s existing footprint, and at no cost to its biodiversity.

“If the decision goes ahead it will send a very bad message to the children that car parking is more important than natural habitats. This goes against all of the green messages that are rightly part of the curriculum.”

Cllr Hiscock said the pond was overgrown and had not been used for about five years.

He added: “We spent many, many hours talking to council officers about where this building was going to go and this was the only answer.

“I have had parents who say they wish objectors had taken the trouble to talk to the school.

“That’s a shame and I feel that their actions are not in the best interests of the children in school.”

St Bede, which says it is committed to lowering its carbon footprint, has an Eco Schools bronze award. Eco Schools recognises schools’ commitment to becoming more sustainable.

The school’s pond and garden area was the brainchild of parent David Crudgington, and was opened in 1998 by the Rt Rev Michael Scott- Joynt, the Bishop of Winchester.

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