WORK on a project to build a flagship school near Wimborne is about to start a new phase.

The redevelopment of Queen Elizabeth’s School is now scheduled for completion at Easter 2011.

Residents were told two years ago that the new buildings would open this September.

Costs on the project have spiralled from £28m to more than £50m. But the project’s new manager, Tony Hall, is determined to steer a steady course.

“I can’t change what’s happened in the past, but I can listen and make changes where I’m able to,” said Mr Hall, the third manager to take the helm since the project began.

Site lines and road markings from a junction from The Broads to a section of road that will now be used for access to the leisure centre had been changed within days of concerns raised at a public meeting, he said.

But residents living close to the site have voiced new concerns over plans for the next 30 weeks of the project, which will see foundations, drainage and supporting structures built for five new buildings.

Anne Raven-Vause, whose rented National Trust home stands just yards from the school, said a proposal for a 68-hour, six-day working week would create further disturbance. And a change of plan that will now see traffic access the leisure centre from The Broads’ side of the school, before a screening bank has been built, had been announced without consultation, said Caroline Denton.