The rector of a Church-run secondary school in Pietà has spoken of his frustration after the planning authority turned down an application by St Augustine’s College to build an adjoining primary school.

The construction of the school, which would have taken around 300 pupils, forms part of the education reform and a €20 million Church expansion project where five of its schools will incorporate both educational levels.

Rector Alan Scerri said: “This decision will frustrate parents – especially those who have other children at the college.”

Parents have already started submitting applications for the 1,792 vacancies in Church schools for the next scholastic year. However, as a result of the authority’s decision only 974 places for boys will be available instead of 1,124.

St Augustine’s had already taken on 150 boys of primary school age last year who were being taught at the Archbishop’s Seminary in Tal-Virtu’ in Rabat until the new school was ready. They will be absorbed by the Church.

Fr Scerri said the planning application for the primary school had encountered a number of delays which jeopardised the agreement with education authorities related to the 2012/2013 intake of students.

Parents who wanted their children “to have their education in a school with a particular ethos feel frustrated, disappointed and stripped of a right that is theirs,” Fr Scerri added.

Once a primary school, St Augustine’s College now functions as a secondary school with 450 students.

The proposed primary school had been recommended for refusal from the outset by the case officer, who said the design and height were unacceptable and would give rise to overdevelopment.

Asked whether the college would appeal the planning authority’s decision, Fr Scerri said the Augustinian Province was considering it.

“The Augustinian Friars and the college’s educational community firmly believe in the benefits and the great sense of social justice that the proposed reform will yield once it is in place,” he said.