OKEHAMPTON Primary School was surprised to learn that it could be teaching children from the town?s new 500 homes development in a temporary classroom until the county council completes a new school on the estate in 2010. The agreement, announced at last Tuesday?s committee meeting when the planning application was accepted, came as news to Brian Cunningham, headteacher at Okehampton Primary. He had not been consulted on the matter, but insisted the school would cope. He said: ?My concern is that we have got a fantastic school with fantastic resources and I don?t want to put a squeeze on that.? But he added; ?I?m sure it could be made to work.? Mr Cunningham said the school currently had spare capacity, but the extra space was used for additional activities which enriched the curriculum. ?We are fortunate in that we have quite a generous site in terms of outside play space but extra classrooms do put pressure on those areas,? he said. ?We don?t actually want to get any bigger.? Mr Cunningham also pointed out that in recent years expectations regarding the intake of children from new developments had not been met. Under a legally binding section 106 agreement written into the planning consent, the developers will pay a proportion of the cost of the temporary classroom for every child from the new estate who attends the school. The calculation will be based on an estimate that there is one primary school age child for every four houses occupied, and a classroom can accommodate 30 children. The developer will provide the cost of the first temporary classroom up front, but will be refunded for any places not used by 2010. Devon County Council has said it can complete the new school by that date. A spokesman for the county council said the temporary classroom would not necessarily be needed anyway. He said: ?We?re just preparing for any eventuality. it?s hugely dependent on how quickly the houses go up and who is occupying them. It?s just in case there?s a flood of children.? The county council will be carrying out a public consultation about the new school for six weeks, starting on October 1. There will be a public meeting but a date has not yet been fixed. Under new government guidelines, the running of the school will also have to be offered for tender, although if no suitable organisation emerges, the council may apply to run it itself.