With the carrot of government funding available for a new secondary school in West Berkshire, St Bartholomews has emerged as the clear favourite, and the council is even prepared to change the planning rules to push through its plans.

In a report for Thursday’s council cabinet meeting, officials are suggesting that the historic Wormstall campus on Buckingham Road and Enborne Road playing fields are sold off. They also recommend including the sites in the new local plan as development sites to get around planning constraints governing school playing fields.

The report says: “Current school thinking suggests that the disposal of the Enborne Road playing field and Wormstall site would bring additional funding to any holistic accommodation/site solution. This would be a significant factor that would eliminate the risk of not being able to deliver the project on cost grounds.”

“However, the Enborne Road playing field is classified as an important open space and lies within an area of archeological importance, which could either eliminate the ability of disposal for development or reduce its value. The Wormstall building, although not currently listed, is a building of note within the area. There is a risk that during any school development proposal a submission to English Heritage could be made to list the building.

“Whilst this could produce a programme risk it is felt that given its location any potential reduction in the value of the site for development would be offset by the likelihood of that development consisting of high value units.”

“All playing fields, with the exception of the Browns Meadow playing field, are classified, within the Local Plan, as important open spaces. This means, as it stands, it is unlikely that development would be permitted on these areas. A mitigating factor could be the replacement of open space lost due to development by the return of the current built environment to open space.

“Any proposed development on existing playing field should be included within the LDF to increase chances of being approved”.

Consultants hired by the council favoured St Bartholomew’s over Thatcham’s Kennet School because the latter would have to be built on the same site, causing huge disruption. At St Bartholomew’s the Luker site could accommodate a new school.

If St Bartholomew’s is chosen on Thursday, the council would throw in up to £1.2m of taxpayers’ money on top of the government grant.