PLANS to reduce the number of places available at a West Swindon school may have been rushed through without the support of local people, according to councillors.

Swindon council's education commission has agreed to cut the number of places available at Tregoze Primary School in Grange Park from 40 to 30 per year.

The move is part of a plan to cut at least 700 surplus places from schools throughout West Swindon by 2004 because of falling pupil numbers there, and to save schools paying for unnecessary cleaning, lighting, and heating.

The Tregoze School plan has the backing of school governors, but local councillors say many parents living just outside the school's current catchment area would send their children there if they could.

They say the school should be expanding, not reducing numbers, and complained at an education commission meeting that the decision to cut overall numbers in West Swindon had been taken without consulting local people.

Coun Michael Dickinson (Lib Dem, Freshbrook and Grange Park) told the commission: "The ward members, all three of us, are still against the reduction of num-bers at Tregoze School.

"This is a very, very popular school with parents, and we don't believe it will have a problem with vacancies.

"We will get the numbers up.

"It's the only primary school in that area of Grange Park and there are a large number of people in Grange Park who are being excluded because they don't live in the right bits."

Coun Nick Martin (Con, Shaw and Nine Elms), said he approved of the council's overall plan to cut surplus places but said more discussion was needed before it was put into practice.

"I think in broad terms the programme probably works, but I'd like to see it discussed with head teachers, parents and governors in an open forum, and see how they feel about it.

"We can easily make this decision in the fullness of time."

Liberal Democrat group leader Coun Mike Evemy (Eastcott) also said he was "concerned that we might be making a decision without consulting at all with anybody."

But Coun Chris Eley (Lab, Walcot) said the council needed to make a decision and move on.

"I think we should be spending our money on teachers and books not on heating empty classrooms and maintaining empty build-ings," he said.

Commission chairman Coun Bernard Baker (Con, St. Mar-garet), said the report proposing the reduction in numbers had been widely circulated, while vice-chairman Coun Kevin Small also wanted a speedy decision made.

"We have delayed this for too long already," he said.

"The school has great concerns about our stalling on this decision, and I think we give ourselves no credibility by delaying it any further."

The commission voted five votes to two in favour of the reduction programme.

The programme also aims to cut almost 600 spare places by taking down temporary buildings in five schools Brook Field, Freshbrook, Shaw Ridge, Toothill and Westlea.