PLANS for the Knockroon Learning and Enterprise Campus have been thrown into doubt after recent changes to a Kilmarnock school.

East Ayrshire Council agreed to recommendations to change the catchment area of Annanhill Primary on March 8 after pupil roll increases were drastically underestimated.

The school roll at Annanhill has increased by 23.7 per cent since it opened. Had the changes not been agreed, Annanhill would have been operating at 121 per cent capacity by 2018/19, just 10 years after it opened.

The school, which is part of the campus at Grange Academy, is already using two classrooms originally intended for the secondary school and in an area that was previously off limits to Annanhill pupils.

An attempt at capping entries to primary one at 60 was only achieved once in the four years since it was implemented.

The council also agreed to more than double future pupil roll estimates for new housing developments from 0.145 to 0.3 pupils per house.

Save Broomfield Playing Fields and Running Track have been campaigning against the proposed new school and were extremely disappointed that something as fundamental as pupil rolls could have been overlooked by the council.

In a statement, the group said: “Save Broomfield are very concerned to learn that the pupil roll calculations for the 3-18 campus at Grange Academy has been so very wrong, resulting in primary school pupils being taught in secondary areas and parents being left without a guarantee that siblings will be able attend the same primary school.

“We have repeatedly raised these same concerns for the Knockroon Campus, and believe that East Ayrshire Council should immediately disclose the calculations used to predict the pupil roll for this proposal.

“Capacity issues for a school of this size and scale should undoubtedly have been considered as part of a masterplan for the development and the failure of East Ayrshire Council’s to produce such a document, and their failure to give adequate consideration to the projected school roll versus the new housing provision planned for the catchment area means we have little faith that these plans are in the best interests of all of our community.”

In response, Andrew Kennedy, Head of Facilities and Property Management at EAC said: “Roll projections for the Knockroon campus were based on current school roll figures for the catchment schools, birth rates, placing request information and an allocation based on the most up-to-date formula for new housing development of 0.1 pupils per house for secondary and 0.33 pupils per house for primary.

“We are confident the campus will have enough room to house the current generation of learners and those still to come.”