GAZETTE & HERALD: Town councillors have rejected plans to sell the Springfield site for housing to raise money for a new special needs school.

Developer Persimmon Homes has put forward proposals to build 100 homes on the Springfield School site, which would raise enough money to build a state of the art school in Quemerford.

Residents who live in houses backing on to the school on Curzon Street are fighting to keep one of the town's remaining green areas.

But head teacher Graham Templeman said a new building was the only solution because the current building is dilapidated and unsuitable for students.

The school caters for 150 main stream pupils taking vocational lessons and 64 residential students with behavioural problems.

"The classrooms are all mobile classrooms and they are all at the end of their life. Our Ofsted report said they were very pleased with the school in spite of the buildings," said Mr Templeman.

Wiltshire County Council said the only way to raise money for a new school building is to sell off the assets.

Springfield School is currently located in the former home of the Harris family who built Calne's meat processing factory, which was the heart and soul of the town for many years.

There is a Victorian and Edwardian building on the site, as well as playing fields and a number of trees.

This week Calne Town Council voted six to two, to oppose selling the site and to support local residents.

Paul Harris, president of Calne Chamber of Commerce said his personal view was that the site should be left as it is.

Peter Highton of Abberd Way made an emotional speech at the meeting. He said: "Don't throw all our heritage down the river. Never mind the money we will all survive without money, but we won't survive without heritage."

Resident Jean Misan said 47 letters opposing the plans had been given to the town council.

She said: "It is an oasis of green which we are going to destroy if we are not careful. I hate to be a NIMBY (not in my back yard) but it is full of marvellous trees."

Roger Walters, Civic Society chairman, said the town should not surrender something that gives pleasure to the public.

But Wiltshire county councillor Christine Crisp pointed out that the grounds were not open to the public.

County councillor Nancy Bryant said the school needed better facilities and this was the only way of providing them.

"I want to emphasise the good work that the school does. If this school wants to flourish we need the facilities to do that. They don't come out of the sky," she said.

Mike Batten, county council's director of environmental services argued that the site had been identified for housing after an urban capacity study, identifying potential sites for development. He said the district council had a quota of 13,500 new houses to introduce to the area by 2011.

He said plans for the site would not necessarily include demolishing the buildings or cutting down the trees.

Mr Batten also said the county council had bought the site from a receiver with a freehold and there was no bequest to keep the site for the benefit of children, as many believed.