RESIDENTS have raised a storm of protest against plans to build new homes that will pay for a £500,000 extension for a Chippenham primary school.

More than 60 people have complained to North Wiltshire District Council about plans to build houses on land at Englands, off Wood Lane.

But the land deal could give Charter Primary School the money to pay for seven new classrooms.

North Wiltshire District Council's development control committee will consider the outline application for residential development of the 1.37 hectare site on Wednesday.

A total of 69 letters of objection were sent in which, although accepting the principle of development on the site, raises concerns about the layout, size of the houses, and landscaping.

Planning officers have admitted the layout has some short-comings and have recommended councillors delegate the decision to them to sort out.

If the scheme proceeds, the Borough Lands Charity, which owns the land, will hand over money from the sale to pay for the extension.

The land is the last piece on the Englands site, where 170 new homes are already built, and developers have expressed an interest.

The original plan was to use the land for the extension, but it is on a hill and much higher than the rest of the school site.

The only way it could have been developed was to build the extension at the top of the hill, with the rest of the school at the bottom, but teachers and governors did not want a split site.