KING Alfred’s Academy is facing mounting opposition to its plans to demolish its East Site and build a housing estate.

Residents have called for the school to be saved and one protestor has called for a town-wide referendum.

The school submitted its planning application to replace the Springfield Road East Site with 150 homes at the end of December.

The Vale Academy Trust, which runs the academy, said its architects tried to address as many residents’ concerns as possible in the final plan.

But some remain opposed to the principle of demolition.

Residents can comment on the plan until February 10, before it goes to Vale of White Horse District Council’s planning committee.

Bob Woolford, who lives opposite East Site in Springfield Road, has lived in Wantage all his life and went to the secondary when it was Icknield School.

He said he did not want to see the establishment where he spent his formative years demolished.

The 57-year-old said: “A school is the heart and soul of a town.

“I’m not a Nimby, I went to this school for six years.

“This school was built for the people of Wantage and children in the area to walk to it.

“Headteacher Simon Spiers has no right to want to demolish a great school. This is very distressing for a lot of people.

“Why can’t there be a referendum in Wantage about knocking it down?”

Design consultant Gary Madgwick, who lives near the school, also questioned the sense in demolishing a school in a town where 5,000 new homes are due to be built in the next 15 years.

He said: “Yes, expand Centre Site, but it is landlocked. Expanding West Site is also a good alternative, but are we sure East Site will not be needed as well?

“Even with a new school being proposed, has Oxfordshire County Council actually worked out the projected school places needed?”

King Alfred’s wants to sell East Site to a housing developer as part of a £16m scheme to expand its Centre Site in Portway and move from three sites down to two, so teachers do not have to travel across Wantage between classes.

The academy can only realise that plan with the £11m it hopes to get from selling East Site.

Vale Academy Trust executive headteacher Simon Spiers said he and his architects have tried to make the estate as palatable as possible to locals.

He said: “We’ve moved some properties around so they don’t face each other. There were also a number of observations about back gardens backing on to each other and we’ve managed to adapt all of those, so we’re very happy about that.

“We’ve also maximised the green spaces in the estate. The minimum is 15 per cent and we’re at 17 per cent.

“We are very excited that we’ve finally put in a planning application. This marks a really important moment in our plan to move from three sites down to two in order to deliver outstanding facilities for current and future children.”

The Vale is aiming to make a final decision on the plan by March 23.