ABOUT 140 homes could be built on what is now King Alfred’s East Site, leaked documents have revealed.

The academy is looking to sell the site in Springfield Road, Wantage, for £11m to fund a major redevelopment of its Centre Site in Portway.

A letter from the school’s planning consultant Strutt and Parker revealed it is looking to build 140 houses there.

The letter suggests this could consist of 68 two-bedroom homes, 53 three-bed, 13 four-bed and six one-bed apartments – approximately 330 new residents.

Fields and tennis courts occupy the site now, overlooked by houses – a view which would be lost in the development.

Gary and Carolyn Madgwick, of Fyfield Close, which neighbours the school field, said they were dismayed by the scale of the scheme.

Mr Madgwick, a design consultant, added: “Let’s not forget the loss of privacy that the houses along Fyfield Close will suffer, as there would be numerous properties close to the boundaries. The new houses close to this boundary will cause a loss of light, privacy and will be overlooking them.

“Wouldn’t it be nice for East Site to be turned into a park and green area, planted up with trees, playing fields or even a running track or somewhere for the children to play?”

Julie Mabberley, who chairs the Wantage Neighbourhood Plan steering group, said it was important to preserve as much green space as was feasible at the site.

She said: “These are playing fields that kids have been playing on for years and we want to retain as much of it as possible.”

Simon Spiers, executive headteacher of the Vale Academy Trust which runs King Alfred’s, said the school plans to run a public consultation on the plans for East Site in September.

He also planned to meet with Wantage Town Council next month to discuss the scheme in more detail.

He added: “My job is to get a scheme through planning which provides a sufficient capital receipt to allow us to move from three sites to two and give children in Wantage the outstanding facilities they deserve and which are desperately needed.”

One reason the school needs to expand is the 5,500 homes due to be built in Wantage and Grove in the next 15 years, including the 1,500-home Crab Hill estate.