PLANS for Bournemouth and Poole’s first free school have been thrown into chaos, with 200 potential pupils now facing an uncertain future.

The trustees behind Parkfield School have been forced to go back to the drawing board and find a new location after their bid to buy Homelife House at the Lansdowne was scuppered.

They say the blame lies entirely with the government, who were responsible for the process of buying a site and trying to obtain planning permission.

Ed Forbes, one of the trustees, said: “The Department for Education have their own property management people who take on the responsibility of choosing a site and getting planning permission.

“You would have thought they would have known what they were doing and would go for a site that is clearly going to be suitable and would have a discussion with the planning authorities. But that didn’t happen.

“Quite clearly this is just a disastrous muck-up on their part. We have been gravely let-down by the DfE. It’s shocking, these are children at the start of their school lives that are affected.

“We have been severely short-changed and if this is how they deal with free schools, it rings national alarm bells.”

Parkfield principal Terry Conaghan was yesterday out in Bournemouth looking at alternative sites, including Dorset House at the Lansdowne.

Mr Forbes said the idea of a September opening had not yet been ruled out.

Provisional places were sent out to 216 children earlier in the year and job offers have recently been made to 11 teachers.

Cllr David Kelsey, chair of Bournemouth’s planning board, said he had concerns about the plans to convert Homelife House, Raglan House and Arnetts Showroom into a school.

“I don’t think they had thought it all through, but they came to us with a pre-application and I made my concerns clear.”

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We have worked hard with proposers to progress this to open in 2012.

“It is unfortunate that the vendors accepted another offer on the Trust’s preferred site at such a late stage in the process.

“We are working to resolve this by reviewing appropriate alternative sites. We will do all that we can to help this school open so it can meet the needs of local parents.”

Parents advised to contact local authority

Parents concerned about their child’s school place are being advised to contact their local council.

Felicity Draper, at Bournemouth council, said they had always advised parents to choose an alternative school in case Parkfield was not a viable option for September.

“We would advise parents living in the Bournemouth area to contact our Bournemouth Children’s Information Service on 01202 456222 who will be happy to discuss their individual circumstances and provide advice and guidance.

“Residents living in Poole and Dorset should contact their local authority for more information.”