PLANS for a £4.8million development to add a sixth form at a Somerset school are set to be approved next week.

The 1,206-pupil Huish Episcopi School wants a two-storey sixth form building and single-storey science block so it can take A level students from September 2010.

The buildings, recommended for approval by Somerset County Council’s regulation committee on Tuesday, will eventually allow student numbers to rise by 235.

Head teacher Graham Roff said a local sixth form facility would save students travelling to Taunton or Bridgwater.

The sixth form building at Huish Episcopi, which specialises in science, languages and applied learning, will consist of two blocks and contain teaching/learning spaces, exhibition area, a hall and performing space, computer room and café area.

The two-block science extension will provide chemistry, biology and physics labs.

Both buildings will have environmentally-friendly features, while trees will be planted to replace any lost.

Car parking spaces will be relocated and vehicle access altered to fit in with the development.

A hard-surface play area lost to the sixth form building will be replaced by a new hard play area near the science block.

The county has received four letters of protest, with complaints about the “modern” design of the buildings, lack of parking spaces, impact on nearby homes and an “adverse increase in traffic”.

A report to county councillors says: “The proposed sixth form will bring community benefits to young adults in the Huish Episcopi and Langport area.

“The building makes practical use of available land, has been sustainably designed and will have minimal impact on local amenity.”