Critics round on school's rebuild; EDUCATION: Moving public internet cafe within grounds 'is security risk'.

Byline: Jane Tyler

PARENTS and residents have given a hostile reaction to plans to rebuild two schools.

Four Dwellings Primary and High, both in Quinton, are to be knocked down and rebuilt as part of the city council's pounds 2.4 billion Building Schools for the Future programme.

The plans are at an early stage but initial proposals were revealed at a meeting of Quinton ward committee and were greeted with dismay. The new secondary school will be significantly smaller because pupil numbers are projected to drop from the current 665 to 493 by January 2015, before rising again to 520 by 2019.

A smaller site is needed, with a reduction from the current 12,041 sq m to just 5,851 sq m.

But what caused the most anger were the plans for the Quinzone education and training centre, Quinton Neighbourhood Office and internet cafe. Quinzone will remain in its current location but the neighbourhood office and internet cafe, which have both only recently been opened, will move.

The neighbourhood office will go on land on the edge of the campus, while the cafe could be moved into the middle of the site.

But critics at the meeting said letting the public wander freely around a school site carried security risks. Four Dwellings High School chairman of governors David Hughes said: "It will be right next to the hall where young girls do their dance classes. I find that alarming."

Quinton councillor Coun Len Clark called for the plans to be re-drawn. He said: "The plans for the internet cafe are a big problem in terms of security because you are bringing people into the heart of the school environment."

A spokesman for the education department said they were only at the design stage and the authority would take the comments on board.