An MP is 'appalled' at government plans to build a new secondary school less than two miles away from the former Baverstock Academy which is to be demolished.
Earlier this week it emerged that the Department for Education had submitted its application to Birmingham City Council to develop Christ Church Academy at Yardley Wood playing fields.
But Selly Oak MP Steve McCabe (Lab) has written to the authority expressing concerns over the proposal, arguing it should be built on the old Baverstock site in Druids Heath.
It has been vacant since 2017 when the school closed in a cloud of controversy over alleged 'financial irregularities' and a number damning Ofsted reports.
The school buildings at Bells Lane have since been earmarked for demolition as part of a £43m housing regeneration of the estate by the council.
Mr McCabe said: "I remain appalled that just days after the Government announced it was closing Baverstock Academy in Druids Heath they then approved an application for a secondary school less than two miles down the road.
"The loss of Baverstock has had a significant impact on the Druids Heath community and I have said for some time that instead of building a school on green space the former Baverstock School site should be used instead.
"The site is far more suitable, would still address the need for more secondary school places in Selly Oak constituency as well as the neighbouring Hall Green constituency and would almost certainly be welcomed by my constituents both in Druids Heath and Yardley Wood."
It is proposed the school, which would accommodate more than 1,100 students including a sixth form, would be accessed from Daleview Road off Ravenshill Road and feature its own pick-up and drop-off zone.
But Mr McCabe argued it would be a 'fantasy' to say it would not have an impact on traffic in the area, including a one lane bridge on nearby School Road which he says would go from an 'inconvenience' to a 'huge problem'.
The MP also expressed concerns that residents neighbouring the site would suffer a loss of privacy.
Mr McCabe concluded saying he was not against a new school in principle accepting there was a need for new places but declared the council's planning committee, which will make a decision at a later date, 'must not ignore legitimate concerns of my constituents'.
He urged all residents in the area to submit formal comments on the Christ Church proposal which can been viewed by using the reference code 2019/01050/PA on the council website's planning application search page.
