PARENTS have a year to make the Government's green transport policy work at a primary school before losing the use of a controversial temporary car park.

North Wiltshire District Council approved Persimmon Homes' plans to build on the site in the north of Calne, next to School Road, at a meeting last Wednesday.

But it insisted that building on the temporary car park, which is used by parents of children at Fynamore Primary School at drop off and pick up times, was deferred for 12 months, while the rest of the buildings on the site are constructed.

But parents at Fynamore School are already struggling to implement the plan, which was imposed by the Government on all new schools, because it contradicts another Government policy, giving parents the right to choose the school their children attend.

The idea of the green transport plan is to encourage parents to walk or cycle with their children to school, and leave their cars behind.

But children from across town and nearby villages also go to Fynamore School, and the distances make it difficult for some families to walk or cycle.

Wiltshire county councillor Nancy Bryant said: "I'm very concerned about the parking and safety for children. Deferring the build on the car park for five years would have been ideal, three years acceptable, but a year is going to be a struggle."

Jon Tadd, who chairs Fynamore's school travel plan committee, said: "The plan is practical providing Persimmon, the council and local authorities will work with us to establish it. Our remit is to make the green travel plan work.

"We knew they would be building on that site, what we object to is that now there is no safe parking area.

"Our next step will to be to carry out risk assessments in the area and then try to meet with all interested parties to ensure we can move forward."

Persimmon Homes is set to build a community centre surmounted with eight flats, a block of shops topped with ten flats, a doctor's surgery, two houses and a block of 12 flats on the site.

There will be 36 parking spaces for residents, shoppers, community hall patrons and patients.

Mr Tadd said most parents were not opposed to the development itself, but fear the loss of the car park and the limited number of parking spaces at the new development will create havoc at school picking up times.

They believe nearby, narrow residential roads will become blocked with parked cars a problem that will be exacerbated by construction traffic.

One resident blasted the developers as greedy, claiming they are in danger of over developing the site, which is sandwiched between Amberly Close and School Road.

Michael Bolton, 34, of Amberly Close, said the street is already crowded at 9am or 3pm and feared the situation would become chaotic once the development was built. "You cannot put local residents' lives at risk," he said.