WORK started on the installation of new classrooms at a York school while local residents were still being consulted on a planning application.

Fishergate Green councillor Andy D’Agorne said new fencing arrived last Friday at the Danesgate Pupil Support Centre in Fulford Cross, and local residents also received letters from the school asking them to ensure lorries delivering the modular classroom units could get access this week.

But he said City of York Council had only just started consulting on a resubmitted planning application for the project, with residents told they had 21 days from June 1 to make representations.

He said it appeared the authority’s property services department had been unaware that an original application had been withdrawn, and a fresh application had been submitted.

He said: “The revised plans are actually an improvement on the original scheme but that isn’t the point. There is an important principle at stake. The council is subject to planning laws just like anyone else.”

He said following his intervention, work had been halted and would not resume until the consultation period had expired and officers had had chance to consider whether to grant permission.

Maggie Tansley, head of planning and resources at the authority, said it was looking at adding additional facilities to Danesgate for existing primary age pupils.

She said: “Unfortunately, an oversight meant that some key planning dates were missed. Work will remain on hold until a decision on planning is known.”

The planning application refers to the installation of a single-storey classroom unit complete with steps, ramps and toilets. It says it would occupy a grassed area in a quiet corner of the site and would not impact on any of the existing site facilities or affect current access arrangements.

The units would be of painted timber construction with upvc windows and would be positioned to avoid the existing trees and outside the tree canopy.