A PLANNED new primary school for Bournemouth is being built in the wrong location, objectors are claiming.

Dozens of residents near the site of the proposed Avonwood Primary School are urging the Avonbourne Academy Trust (AAT) to consider moving the school to another corner of the site.

The planning application will go before Bournemouth’s planning board on Monday with planning officers recommending approval.

The AAT is proposing to build a new primary school off Harewood Avenue via Newlands Road, which will eventually cater for 420 pupils aged between four and 11.

Residents say they have no objection to the idea of a new primary school but are objecting to the chosen location.

They want the school to be built on land north of the internal road to Tregonwell School and accessed from Petersfield Road, which they believe will be safer for pupils, offer more parking for parents and create less disturbance for them.

They also contend that a school in this location would be better placed to cope with any additional secondary school places needed at Avonbourne College or Harewood College in the future.

Thirty eight letters of objection and a petition containing 32 signatures have been submitted to the council, along with one letter of support.

Littledown and Iford Cllr Gill Seymour, who has asked for the decision to go before the planning board, said: “The main thing is the school is planning to be built quite close to the residents of Harewood Avenue.

“The other main concern is the access routes with the one way system going in and out and how that’s going to affect congestion.” But planning officer Simon Gould’s report states that while the development “presents some challenging planning considerations,” he is content the extra traffic can be managed.

“The design, layout and scale of the proposed school and its associated facilities are considered in keeping with the character of the site as an educational facility,” he said.