The expansion of a secondary school in a Berkshire village to accommodate more than 200 new pupils has been approved.

Wokingham Borough Council is currently undergoing a school expansion project for state schools so that more pupils can be admitted.

The Piggott Church of England School in Twyford Road, Wargrave is the latest to have its expansion agreed.

It is a secondary school that currently has 1,620 students and 175 staff.

Its expansion will allow it to take 210 additional pupils and 60 sixth form students, bringing the total capacity to 1,890 pupils.

To provide space for new entrants, a planning application was submitted for the reconfiguration of the existing dining hall into a new administration block, school entrance and dining hall, the construction of new multi-use dining hall and extension of the science block.

Additionally, the plan involved the formation of three new netball courts.

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The council’s planning department acknowledged that the new buildings would be established on land designated in the Green Belt, which can only be built on in ‘special circumstances’ according to national planning law.

However, it was agreed that the loss of Green Belt land was outweighed by the need for new school places.

Councillor Stephen Conway (Liberal Democrats, Twyford) said: “This application is in the Green Belt, and ordinarily of course we would not allow development in the Green Belt.

“But there are  special circumstances  that come into play in Green Belt policy and it would seem to me very clear that in this case those special circumstances operate.

“The special circumstance here really is the public good, the expansion of the school to admit greater capacity and ensure local children are able to attend their local school is a very important consideration.”

READ MORE: School north west of Reading to increase pupil sizes and accept girls 

The expansion and new buildings were approved unanimously by Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee on  Wednesday, April 12.

You can view the approved application by typing reference 223613 into the council’s planning portal.

The school’s motto is the Latin phrase ‘Sursum Corda’, which means “Lift up your hearts” in English, which is said at the preface to Holy Communion in the Christian faith.