Surbiton parents may have to wait until 2015 for a new primary school, if the Conservative education spokesman’s plan to scrap “silly ideas” for building a new school on the Surbiton Hospital site are adopted by an incoming Tory council in May.

Councillor Dennis Doe pledged to replace plans for a two form of entry school on the hospital site, on which the council started consulting this week, with a new school on the King Charles Centre in Hollyfield Road.

In an email to Tory parliamentary candidate Helen Whately, Coun Doe said: “Rest assured, if I become the executive member after the May elections, the rebuild of the King Charles Centre for a primary school will replace any silly ideas of building it on the hospital site, and will be pushed urgently.”

However, council officials warned such a change could delay the opening of new school buildings from September 2012 until September 2015 at the earliest, and possibly later.

A spokesman said: “This would depend on a number of variables from securing land ownership, reproviding existing services before building works could start, having to start the statutory consultation process again and being reliant on two planning application processes. Currently no funding is identified to cover the cost of reproviding existing services.”

He added the King Charles Centre site had been considered but was smaller than Government guidelines, and an alternative suggestion of Newent House and nearby waste land had additional unfunded costs and would take longer.

Surbiton parent Paul Sloan, who has campaigned for more primary school places in the area, said: “I don’t think Coun Doe fully appreciates the scale and immediacy of the problem here in Surbiton. This is the third year of this crisis.

“Parents are fed up and demand an immediate permanent solution. The council calculates we will be 150 reception places short by September 2011. Why anybody would want to delay the immediate provision of the best solution is beyond me.”

Coun Doe said the King Charles Centre had previously been a secondary school, was owned by the council and was close to Fishponds Park and the Alexandra Recreation Ground. He said the hospital site should be used for adult education to complement the planned polyclinic.

Fellow Tory councillor Nick Kilby would not commit to scrapping the hospital site option, but said: “Unless the officers could not prove [Coun Doe] was wrong, I think he would be right to being forward plans for the first executive to move forward with the King Charles Centre.”

Liberal Democrat Berrylands Councillor Frances Moseley said: “I just think it is so misguided to say at this stage we will rule something out that looks feasible.”