Neighbours of Helston Community College have put forward alternative designs for its £17 million pound redevelopment after declaring the current plan "a blight on residents."

The project's agents, Stride Treglown, have submitted a planning application to replace all but the separate, newer languages block on the North Site, with a new three-tier building taking in C-Block (maths and English), D-Block (science and PE) and E-Block (technology), along with a large sports hall separate assembly hall and reception area.

Cornwall Council is due to make a decision later this month on whether to give permission for the build, which the school hopes will be third time lucky after already being let down twice on funding promises.

However, a group of neighbours have come up with their own site map, showing two other ways they believe the three-storey building could be placed on a different part of the land, further away from the neighbouring residential area.

Both show the building moved further north, with all internal arrangements remaining the same. One map shows the building in the same orientation and the second a "flipped" alternative.

In a document responding to Stride Treglown's arguments on why this is the best location, they have written: "The effect of the change to the neighbourhood that such a massive building in a rural location will bring has not been considered or evaluated correctly."

By relocating the building "the amenity issues of loss of privacy, visual impact and noise caused by the building on the residents is significantly reduced."

Stride Treglown has previously said the building was positioned in its current proposed location to allow for the potential of further development on the north of the site should funds become available in the future.

However, the neighbours have argued that if "building to the north is being allowed for in the future...there can be no objections to moving the current scheme to the north."

They claimed moving the building 100 metres further to the north would only take around one minute 15 seconds longer to walk for students and staff.

The residents have acknowledged that relocating the building would mean the tennis courts having to be moved, but it was their belief that this would cost an extra £100,000 or 0.5 per cent of the total cost and "projects do not fall on such small percentages."

Stride Treglown has said that the new sports hall had been placed at the northern end of the proposed building to be as close as possible to Helston Sports Centre.

However, the residents said that moving the building to the north of the site would make the two sports facilities adjacent, or alternatively moving and then flipping it would keep the sports hall in the same place as the current option.

One of the residents, Stephen Sack, whose parents live adjacent to the site, told the Packet: "The current scheme is a blight on the residents. It is 100m long, 40m wide and three-storeys high, with a congregation and refuge area, with smell and vermin, placed 25 metres from our boundary.

"We are opposed to the development in its present form."

Executive headteacher Donna Bryant told the Helston Packet: "Whilst I understand that the residents would prefer the school to be sited further away from their homes, you will appreciate that as headteacher my prime consideration has to be for the best arrangements for children and staff and the smooth running of the college. "Clustering the buildings as near to each other as possible is better for the management of children and enables us to consider different timetabling options rather than having to be constrained by the current movement break. Any new building should enhance opportunities not build the old constraints back in.

"There are other reasons why the alternative plans would not work, including the proposed access arrangements.

"In terms of finance, my understanding is that the EFA [Education Funding Agency] has a limited pot of money to refurbish a lot of schools in desperate need, therefore budgets are very tight."