PREVIOUSLY approved plans for a £9 million school in Hampshire have been resubmitted – because there weren’t enough children to fill it.

Bosses at Hampshire County Council had rubber stamped the plans for Winchester’s Barton Farm Academy Primary School back in 2015.

But now the scheme is back out for public consultation once again, after the authority – which is also the applicant – was unable to start work within the conditioned three year approval period.

This was due to the slow progress of the rest of the long-awaited development of 2,000 homes at Barton Farm, which was approved back in 2012.

The new school, which will be two-form entry, is set to have capacity for a maximum of 420 pupils.

If approved again, the school – which is sponsored by the University of Winchester Academy Trust, will look to open in Summer 2020.

It was originally meant to open in Spring 2019.

Speaking about the delay, children’s services chief at the council, Councillor Keith Mans, said: “The latest predictions around pupil data for 2019 suggest that the delay in the number of houses being built at Barton Farm would not justify the opening of a new school for September 2019.

“When the original schedule for the new school’s construction was planned, we were clear that the dates would be subject to the rate at which the new housing would be built by the developer, and families moving into those properties.

“We and the University have taken the latest information into consideration and agreed that it would not be in anyone’s interests to have a school built significantly ahead of being needed to meet the demand arising from the new development.”

The council added that because existing Winchester schools have sufficient places for the forecast demand, the updated schedule will have no impact for families, and children currently living in the area.