A new primary school and nursery will be built on the outskirts of Stonehouse after councillors gave the final go-ahead last night.

The school will be constructed on land next to Oldends to cope with a planned development of 1,350 new homes in the town.

Stroud District Council’s development control committee approved the reserved matters application by a majority of six on Tuesday night (November 26).

The school will be opened initially in temporary buildings, on a site yet to be determined, in September 2020, moving to its permanent site in September 2021.

It will open in a phased manner, allowing it to grow gradually to accommodate new pupils as the housing comes on line.

Some councillors however called for the school and nursery to be refused as no solar panels would be installed on its roof.

Labour councillor Stephen Lydon said in the meeting: “The additional maintenance costs are pretty negligible. There’s not much to put solar panels on the top.

“It’s all very well for Shire Hall to declare a climate emergency, but we’ve got to practice what we preach.”

Replying to Mr Lydon (The Stanleys), a council officer said: “Putting solar panels on the facility is not the only measure that the school could do to make it sustainable”

A sustainability report submitted by the applicant said installing the solar panels “would not be feasible”.

The report said: “The design team have ensured that the requirements of the fabric first approach exceed those specified by building regulations to ensure that the designs comfortably offset the fact that solar panels cannot be used.”

Recommending why the school and nursery should be approved, a council officer said in a report:  “This is a community facility to serve a substantial housing development. It is placed in a central location to be accessible and support other services. The design provides a landmark for the development and this community.”