A 15-METRE-HIGH wind turbine could be built beside a Basingstoke secondary school.

Hampshire County Council has applied for planning permission to install the electricity generator in the grounds of Everest Community College, which moved to its new state-of-the-art home last September.

Headteacher Julie Rose said the turbine - which would be connected to the national grid - had been part of the original plan for the school in Popley.

"The whole building has been built to try to minimise the impact on the environment in the way it's designed and constructed," she said.

"We felt that the turbine's prominence in Merton Rise and Popley would be a very visible demonstration of renewable energy in practice, both as an educational tool and as an example to the local community."

The school, which has solar panels on the roof, was designed with energy sustainability in mind, said Ms Rose.

She added: "We need to start thinking about it before we run out of energy. The generation of young people coming through the school are the ones who are going to have to deal with the issues of sustainability more than us."

Ms Rose said they were looking at wind turbine designs that generate minimal noise impact on classrooms and neighbours.

"We have alerted our neighbours because they will need to have their say," she said.

Documents accompanying the planning application, which Hampshire County Council will determine, state the turbine would be mounted on a steel tower, painted white and its rotor would have a nine-metre diameter.

Half the funding for the £50,000 electricity generator would come from a grant from the Government's Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the council's New Deal for Schools funding budget.