A NEW £9 million secondary school on the site of a former school that closed eight years could get the go ahead next month.

Older students at Selworthy School, Taunton, which caters for youngsters with special educational needs, could start in the new premises in September next year.

They would move a few hundred metres from their current school in Selworthy Road to the former St Augustine of Canterbury School, off Lyngford Road, which has been mostly demolished and will be known as the Hazelbrook Campus.

Somerset County Council's regulation committee looks set to approve the detailed application, which has been supported by Taunton Deane Borough Council.

The county has also submitted an outline planning application to build a primary school on the campus for younger Selworthy students, in case a move is needed in the future. Parents are being advised that there are currently no plans to relocate the primary school.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council said: "We are delighted at the support for the plans for the £9 million expansion of Selworthy School onto the Hazelbrook Campus.

"This is part of the biggest school building and improvement programme for generations and shows our commitment to the county’s children and young people and giving them the opportunities to reach their full potential. This is great news for the school and for Taunton.

"We are keen to keep options open, so have also sought agreement in principle for a purpose-built primary school on the Hazelbrook site.

"To be clear and to reassure parents and pupils at the school, there is no proposal or commitment to build a primary school on the Hazelbrook site or relocate primary places from the current Selworthy school site – this is just a case of making sure we have the flexibility to go down this route if it is considered the right option in the future."

The proposed secondary school will be largely single storey in a 'U' shape to the north of the site and will be largely flat roofed, apart from the hall and teacher accommodation to the front of the premises.

The site has been reserved for educational development, although the playing field is excluded from that policy.

St Augustine's closed in the summer of 2010, along with Ladymead School, on Cheddon Road, ahead of the formation of Taunton Academy on the site of the latter school.