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Thorpe becoming 'TASIS-ville'
TASIS school is being accused of trying to take over Thorpe after it revealed multi-million pound expansion plans.
The American school in Coldharbour Lane is seeking planning permission to demolish 18 buildings and replace them with structures including a new two-storey upper school and a business office.
The new buildings will result in an 840sq m increase in floorspace over 20 years, and see pupil numbers rise from 725 to 800.
Six letters of objection have been received by Runnymede Council, including one from Thorpe Ward Residents Association.
One resident, John Kelly of Western Avenue, said Thorpe was in danger of becoming 'TASIS-ville'.
He said: "I think it's scurrilous to slip the application through in the middle of the holiday season. If the village had said, 'we support this' then great, but people do not know about it.
"The village is becoming Tasisville - we are going to become an American campus. I have been asking people around the village and not found one who received a letter about this."
Fernando Gonzales, chairman of the school's development board, said villagers' concerns are "unfounded", adding: "My sense is that the village will not see a big impact. It's understandable there are concerns but I think those concerns are unfounded.
"I think by and large most members of the village residents association think we are an asset to the community - a school of 750 is always going to have an impact but we do a lot of community work and I think the village gains more than it loses."
He said the first phase of the project - the building of the upper school and an extension to the Coach House - which the school hopes to start work on this year, will cost about £2.7m.
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