Developers were seen surveying school land months before proposals to close the school were announced, it has been claimed.

Teams of surveyors with maps and measuring equipment were spotted on the playing fields of Bront' Middle School at Oakworth as far back as last November.

Bradford council proposals to close the school - part of its current education structure shake-up - were only revealed publicly last week.

The land is estimated to be worth around £1 million to developers.

Suzanne Howell, the school's head-teacher, has told of the astonishment she felt after receiving reports from local residents who had seen surveyors on the land. According to reports from residents in Sykes Lane and Goose Cote Lane, different groups of developers have been seen carrying out surveys since last November.

Now teachers and governors want to find out how the property developers knew the site was closing months before the school-review consultation period had even started.

Mrs Howell says she received no notification from Bradford council or from any developers about the surveys, which have been conducted without the school's consent.

She says: "I have received several phone calls from people living next to the playing fields who have seen surveyors on the land. I have every reason to believe them. Some of the reports stretch back as far as November when there was only the hint of a review consultation period, so we don't know if the developers have done this with the LEA's (the council's) permission or not.

"The fact that the school will be razed to the ground has left people quite upset at the awful waste of such good facilities."

A spokesman for Bradford council says its planning department has no knowledge of any property developers carrying out surveys on the school land, and any formal approach by a developer would have been reported straight away to the head-teacher.

The spokesman also says the council is equally nonplussed at how the developers knew at that time that the school was on the verge of closure.

The school currently occupies an eight-acre site, which is sure to interest housing developers searching for land close to the green belt.

According to Keighley estate agent Simon Bland, a partner with McManus and Poole, the site could be worth close to £1 million. He says: "A lot would depend on planning permission for a site like that, but the value of the land could be as high as £150,000 per acre. Most developers seem to be grouped up in the Worth valley and it could be a very desirable site, but a lot will depend on what local planning restrictions there are."

School governor Mike Boothroyd points out: "The playing fields and the excellent sports facilities are used by all of the pupils and a lot of the local community groups."

At a meeting on Monday, school governors decided to fight the closure of the school.

Bront' governors may press for the re-establishment of Bront' as a five-form entry primary school, for five-11 year-olds. The governors have organised a public meeting on Wednesday, April 29, at 7pm in the school hall.

Review latest, page 5

Governor's view and Opinion, page 10

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