Dorset County Council Leader, Tim Palmer, said:

"In our drive to secure new premises for pupils, staff and local people we have agreed a scheme which is realistic and which meets educational need. Although Lytchett Minster School sits within a sensitive site, and that has played an important role in our plans, we are advised that our design should be acceptable in its environmental setting.

"I completely understand that the school is anxious that the scheme provides as much as possible. We believe that this design does just that, and crucially is achievable within our stretched budget. These proposals will give the school, its pupils and staff a new teaching block and two-storey dining facilities including a sixth form common room. I now hope we can have a constructive dialogue with the school on ironing out the detail of this design to provide what the school needs by summer 2008."

Director of Children's Services, Stephen Prewett, said:

"I'm extremely pleased that the Cabinet agreed that our scheme meets the brief and can now be submitted for planning approval. We know the strength of local feeling about getting a new teaching block built at Lytchett Minster School and that local people are interested in seeing the design we have settled on.

"We are inviting local people to come and view our plans and talk to us about what we are proposing for the school. We will be holding an exhibition on 6 February at Upton Community Centre from 3:30pm to 7:30pm, with a presentation and question and answer session at 6:30pm. Now the Cabinet has approved our scheme we will soon be putting information in the libraries at Lytchett Matravers and Upton. In the meantime, there is information on the design on our website."

Dorset County Council has also received external independent endorsement of its proposals. It submitted its design to an experienced schools design consultant for his views. His report concluded that 'there seems no reason why this proposal should not form a reasonable basis from which an excellent final design can be generated.'

A group of Dorset headteachers also considered the proposals and concluded that the county council had tried to make the best use of space within the funding available. They felt that greater collaboration was needed between the school and the county council to get 'best value' out of the £10.9 million.

The county council aims to submit the scheme to the April meeting of the planning committee.