A NEW £2 million school is being planned for the west of York.

But the scheme to build a modern version of St Barnabas' Primary School has sparked controversy and residents claim it would eat away at valuable green space.

City of York Council propose to replace the existing outdated building, in Bright Street, Leeman Road, with a new site on open space behind nearby Cinder Lane.

Similar applications have also been lodged to replace St Oswald's C of E Primary School, in Fulford, and Hob Moor Primary School, Acomb.

The schemes are being funded out of an £8.3 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which was approved by the Government last spring.

The new St Barnabas building will cater for 150 primary school children and 50 nursery places, and will include a car park, playground and football pitch.

But Leeman Road resident Kate Youngjohns says council planners have increased the size of the proposed site by "246 per cent" from what was originally contained in the draft local plan.

She claims it has risen from 4,440 sq metres to 10,912 sq metres.

"It's a very heavily-used area of urban green space," she said.

"Lots of people go on there to walk dogs, but I bet they don't even know what is planned.

"I'm calling on householders to lodge objections against the scheme with the council to get something done about it."

A spokesman for City of York Council said the size of the site had increased since the local plan because of the inclusion of the football pitch.

"I assume that dog walkers will not be able to walk on the pitch because it is not hygienic," he said.

Damon Copperthwaite, City of York Council's PFI project manager, said: "The plan has always been to utilise that site for the new school.

"We held public consultations in November and have tried to act on what people said to us."

Mr Copperthwaite said the height of the school would be two feet above the area's highest flood level.

"The existing school is not really appropriate for delivering a modern curriculum," he added.

Updated: 10:29 Tuesday, April 08, 2003