THE OUTLINE business case for the rebuilding of Ilkley Grammar School will go before a Government department if it wins the backing of Bradford Council’s Executive tomorrow.

Members of the Executive, including five councillors representing wards in or around Ilkley, will be asked to approve the outline business case for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme on Tuesday.

If it gains approval, it will then be submitted to the Government’s Department for Children, Schools and Families and public body Partnerships for Schools on June 29 .

If the case is approved by these bodies, a Final Business Case will be produced and signed off by the governing bodies of the schools involved.

The plans, under the final phase of Bradford Council’s Building Schools for the Future scheme, include the redevelopment of 12 Bradford District schools and the redevelopment of Ilkley Grammar on a new site, with the school’s student capacity increasing from 1,536 to 1,950.

The school population figures have been revised by district education bosses to include 11 to 16-year-olds and sixth form pupils.

While there is support from the community for a new school building which can take on the growing number of children in the area, concerns have been raised about plans to move Ilkley Grammar from Cowpasture Road to fields in Ben Rhydding.

Residents of Ben Rhydding have spoken out about traffic and other issues if the school is built off Wheatley Lane.

In Addingham, there have been concerns about children from the village getting a place, even at an expanded Ilkley Grammar, if the school moves further from the village.

Addingham Parish Council called an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday, inviting Bradford Council’s assistant director of Learning Services, Sue Colman, to speak on education issues.

She was asked to provide councillors with an update on the plans for Ilkley Grammar and the change to single form entry at Addingham Primary School from September.

Villagers want to know if their children will be assured a place at Ilkley Grammar if the school moves and that the cut in admissions from 45 to 30 at the village primary school will still guarantee all Addingham youngsters a place at their local school.