Stoke Poges Council calls meeting on future of Khalsa school

London,UK: PEOPLE have been invited to a meeting about plans for a free school after a planning application was submitted.

Stoke Poges Parish Council has called a public meeting in the Village Centre on Thursday, March 14 at 8pm, to which representatives from the Khalsa Secondary School have also been invited.

The meeting comes after the Slough Sikh Trust, who have put forward plans for the free school in the village, put in an application for the 11-acre Pioneer site, in Hollybush Hill to South Bucks District Council.

Residents have argued there is no demand for a secondary school in South Bucks and a free school in the village would really only cater for Slough and London.

The planning committee hopes to help people understand grounds for objection and explain the process. It is also hoped Nick Kandola, chair of the SST will attend to answer villagers questions about the site and application.

The Khalsa Secondary School is not the first proposal for a free school in South Bucks, with plans for a free school in Gerrards Cross underway and another in Iver set up by The Childcare Company, which already has a primary free school.

Vice chair of the council’s planning committee Saera Carter said: “We have invited Mr Kandola to our meeting, and it’s open to the public. We’re hoping to have some news from Dominic Grieve after his meeting in parliament on Monday to report back. The main aim is to help people understand what the next step is and how to object to the application. The issue is so important we knew we needed another planning meeting to deal with it.”

Avtar Singh, speaking on behalf of the School Lane Residents’ Association, said: “Living so close to the site, we would be most affected by the increase in traffic and disruptive parking on some very quiet and narrow rural lanes.”

A special meeting of the parish council’s planning committee will also be held in the main hall of the Village Centre on Wednesday, March 20 at 8pm. The public are also invited to attend to see how the parish council plans to respond to the application.

Source: Buckingham Shireadvertiser.Co.UK