THE head teacher of a school where the dining-room doubles as a gym has praised plans for a new sports hall.
Andy Pugh said the £2.5m sports hall project at Castle Hall School, Mirfield, will mean an end to students having to suffer cramped and old-fashioned conditions caused by the main hall and dining-room having to double up as gym facilities.
Since the school opened in the 1930s the number of pupils has grown from 350 to 870.
Castle Hall School is seeking to build a new sports hall, all-weather pitch and tennis courts.
It says the only way it can afford to do this is by selling land on the Towngate end of its grounds.
Governors have linked up with Magellan Residential Ltd, Shipley, to submit plans for 30 houses on the plot.
Local residents are furious about the prospect of more houses being built and the additional traffic they say it will generate.
Mr Pugh said: "We have added classroom, laboratory and technology space but the amount of space for physical education is the same as it was 70 years ago.
"We urgently need 21st century facilities to bring us into line with every other school in the area."
Neighbours say there are already traffic problems on a morning and afternoon and the new plans will make it worse.
School governors say the new homes are the only way of funding the much-needed sports facilities.
Howard Webster, chairman of the governors, said the sports hall would offer up-to-date facilities for all residents.
"It is our duty to ensure Mirfield children have modern facilities," he said.
"There is no reason why they should they be denied something available to every other child in Kirklees."
Mr Pugh said the school governors had explored every avenue to secure funding but without success.
"The National Lottery bidding process needs support from partners in the community. This has not been forthcoming," he said.
