A CONSULTATION looking to fast track the intake of pupils at Croft School has been launched.

The Old Town primary school was surrounded by controversy before it even opened its doors in September 2012.

It had planned to increase the amount of pupils year-on-year with an extra 60 students annually until it reached its full capacity of 420.

But an admissions consultation has been launched by the school looking at bringing forward the date for it to reach its full capacity to September 2015 – a year ahead of schedule.

Parents will be able to apply for places at the school from March, with people being told by April the next year if they have secured a space for their child.

But Old Town councillor Nadine Watts, said the school should stick to its original plan to help the local community.

“I will be writing to the White Horse Federation, that runs Croft Primary School, expressing my opposition to their proposal to intake pupils from all primary age groups from 2015,” said Coun Watts.

“I think the school should stick to the council’s commitment that the school opens on a phased basis, with year groups being added a year at a time.

“My particular concerns are that this could lead to the Croft area having significantly more traffic at the start and end of the school day than residents would have expected by that point.

“This could lead to a souring of relations between those who run the school and the community. It is already disappointing that the school didn’t think to speak to the local community before doing this.

“I spoke to the residents’ association about this on Monday and I would urge residents to write to the school expressing their views on the proposal.”

The headteacher was unavailable to comment yesterday.

A council spokesman said all of the highways mitigation required for the school operating at full capacity will be in place by September 2015. The consultation runs until January 29. Visit www.the whitehorse federation.org.uk/policies.php