Residents are concerned a proposal to build a new school on their estate will "ruin the lives" of their local community if it is given the go-ahead.

People living on the Broadfields Estate in Edgware will form a residents association designed to thwart the plans of the Avanti Schools Trust to build a school for 1680 pupils on a patch of land they feel is far too small to accommodate it. 

Hindu free school Avanti House is awaiting planning permission from Barnet Borough Council to relocate to the site.

This decision came after the Department of Education ruled its current home in Tudor Road in Harrow was too small to accommodate a planned school for pupils aged four to 18, which would be made by amalgamating the Avanti House secondary school with Krishna Avanti Primary School in Camrose Avenue in Edgware.

The piece of land, between Hartland Drive and Broadfields Primary School, has been awaiting redevelopment since the infant and junior schools occupying it were knocked down and amalgamated into a single primary school.

Property developer Andrew Simons, who is set to become chairman of the new Broadfields Estate Residents Association, has expressed his astonishment the Department for Education and the Education Funding Agency had identified the land as a fit place in which to build a school.

He is concerned about the effects overcrowding and increased traffic caused by the proposed development would have on the already congested Broadfields Estate.

Mr Simons said: “Squeezing another school onto a small residential estate does not make sense to staff, pupils or local residents.

“The estate has a tiny entrance and exit, meaning anything other than light residential traffic would be unsustainable. The thought of any more cars is horrific.”

He added parents dropping off and collecting their children from Broadfields Primary School already had a culture of bad parking and was worried any more pupils attending the site would create a “dangerous influx of traffic” – especially since many of the proposed school’s pupils would come from outside the borough.

He added: “At the moment 650 pupils attend the primary school and that’s bad enough. I can’t imagine what the estate will be like with an extra 1680 pupils. It will be dangerous for anybody wanting to use the location.”

“I’m not opposing this because of property values, but because it is like attempting to squeeze 2kg of sugar into a jar that will only take 1kg.”

Avanti House School insisted it did not want to give the impression it was dismissing the concerns of residents and said the school, which is expected to be ranked outstanding in its first Ofsted report, would be an asset to the area.

School governor Ben Rich said: “It is early days yet. Barnet has not yet signed off the site.

“Avanti House is and wants to be an excellent community school generating great results and respectful, outward looking pupils. We welcome applications from local residents of any faith and want to play a full part in the family of Barnet schools.”

He added the school understood the concerns of residents about traffic and would work to alleviate its impact through using measures including buses and safe cycling routes.

“We want to talk to residents to understand what will work best.

“If you’re going to have a school on this site, this is the school you want.”