A row has broken out over plans to delay the opening of a new secondary school to serve north Swindon.
The school had been scheduled to open in September 2006 as part of a learning campus in the heart of the northern development area.
Although the 1,200-pupil school in Tadpole Lane should be built on time, education chiefs want to put the opening on hold for a year.
Swindon Council claims pupil numbers are not high enough to justify opening sooner.
But local councillors are furious.
Coun Owen Lister (Con Abbey Meads) said: "Abbey Meads residents have been waiting for this school since 2002, and the delay is a great pity.
"Schools in the area, like Hreod Parkway, are full to the gills.
"It doesn't seem logical to have a new school standing empty for a year when it could be made use of.
"If the school opened in 2006 it wouldn't be filled, but they could just have one year group of 11-year-olds taught by a small number of teachers who could cover the whole syllabus."
Coun Justin Tomlinson (Con, Abbey Meads) added: "As ward member, I know local primary schools are overflowing, so to say there are not enough pupils is staggering."
Swindon's Schools Organisation Committee met last night to discuss the progress of the project.
The school is one of eight being built in the north of the borough under an £83-million Private Finance Initiative.
Work is scheduled to start this summer.