MAJOR development plans at a school are set to be approved by councillors despite opposition.

Proposals to build a 26-space bus park and a two-storey teaching block at Richmond School have sparked major concern. Richmondshire District Council has also opposed the plans.

But despite 37 letters of representation from the public with fears about pollution and the loss of a recreation area, members of North Yorkshire County Council's Planning and Regulatory Function's Committee have been advised to approve the scheme.

Many of the worries relate to the proximity of the two developments to the school's grade II listed building, designed by Denis Clarke-Hall in the Thirties.

Mr Clarke-Hall has written to the county council expressing his concerns about the bus parking spaces. "While I am very pleased to hear that the building is still in use, I am saddened at the thought of it being surrounded with tarmacadam," he said.

The development proposals include the provision of a technology block on a currently grassed area and a bus park, with landscaping, covering more than a hectare of the school's grounds. The plans are part of the county council's Capital Plan for Richmond School, with £815,000 being provided for teaching accommodation and bus parking.

The district council has opposed both proposals. Coun John Harris raised concerns about the visual impact on the town. Referring to the new block he said: "It seems to be much taller than is necessary and be very dominant in the context of the listed buildings."

The National Playing Fields Association and Richmond and District Civic Society have opposed both proposals and the Twentieth Century Society is against plans for a teaching block, saying it is poorly located and will result in a loss of green land.

But county council director of environmental services Mike Moore said provision for school buses is at present seriously inadequate. He said the new technology block is sympathetic in design and will not affect the listed building.