A MEETING to discuss controversial plans for a 600-pupil Steiner Free School was held at Marling School on Thursday night (November 21).

The public meeting, which was attended by around 70 people, was organised to update the public and other interested parties on how the proposal was progressing.

To date, the parents of more than 1,000 youngsters have expressed an interest in sending their children to the state-funded school, which would be free of charge and offer students an alternative education guided by the principles of philosopher Rudolph Steiner.

Those who attended the meeting last week were told that the team behind the plans hoped to have the school up and running by 2015.

The group have already secured a place on the New Schools Network’s Development Programme, guaranteeing them access to expert advice and funding to assist with their application, which they aim to submit in January 2014.

Speaking at the meeting, Tarra Gilder-Rai, project manager of the team behind the school plans, said: “It is clear from the demand that Stroud is the right place for a school like this.

“Stroud is asking for diversity and choice in education. Currently there is no affordable alternative in curriculum and ethos for those many families who can't afford private education.”

But members of Stroud Labour party voiced concerns at the meeting that a new school might take pupils away from others in the area already struggling to attract sufficient numbers, threatening them with closure.