THE public is being invited to respond to a plan to significantly enlarge Countess Wear Community School in Exeter.

Devon County Council has proposed enlarging the primary school in Glasshouse Lane from 240 to 420 places from next September.

The expansion is required due to a new 4,000-home development planned within the school's catchment area, at the Royal Naval Stores in south east Exeter, which will generate more than 800 additional primary school children.

A council spokesman told the Echo: "There are already families in some of the houses that have been built and they need to have school places.

"There's going to be a shortage of places in Exeter and it's important to provide places where possible."

Eventually, the development will be serviced by two new primary schools as well as Countess Wear, but it will be several years before the new schools can be opened and in the meantime provision needs to be made at existing schools.

Neighbouring schools either have no capacity or have poor access to the new development.

The current capacity of Countess Wear is 240 pupils, although 287 were registered at the school last term.

Countess Wear is entitled to admit up to 298 pupils without this constituting a significant enlargement under school organisation regulations.

The current admission number for the school is 45 and the proposed number is 60.

The school site can accommodate four temporary classrooms which would enable the expansion to occur.

These were installed over the summer holiday — at a cost of £360,000 plus £40,000 for furniture and equipment — to safeguard against an upturn in the housing market which may create an increase in pupil numbers during the current academic year.

Anyone wishing to make comments on the proposal can email schoolconsultations@devon. gov.uk, use the online feedback form at www.consultationfinder.com/devon, or write to Karen Crockwell, Senior School Organisation Officer, FREEPOST RSGJ-CESH-CZHE, Room 120, Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QG by 5pm on Friday, October 1.

Devon County Council's Cabinet committee will consider the responses and decide the outcome on Wednesday, October 13.

Nobody from Countess Wear Community School was available for comment.