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A new security fence will be installed around a Newport primary school site due to “safeguarding concerns” around intruders and outsiders dealing “illegal substances”.

The city council’s planning committee heard the current railings around Malpas Park Primary School do a good job of marking the site’s boundary but fail to “act as a robust secure periphery to the grounds”.

Currently, part of the school’s garden must be checked for harmful items every day before pupils can enter it, according to its headteacher.

Members of the committee voted unanimously to back the stronger security measures despite some neighbour concerns around the fence’s impact on them.

Case officer Lydia Burrows told the committee a police officer had warned the school site was “highly likely used as a drop-off and pick-up point for the distribution of illegal substances”.

A planning report also notes the school site has been “repeatedly subjected to antisocial behaviour”.

This includes “both youths and adults accessing the grounds to engage in illegal activities out of public view”.

In a statement, the school’s headteacher said risk to school sites “exists and must be addressed”.

They noted “highly concerning incidents involving potential intruders and trespassers with intent to cause damage or harm on the premises of some of Newport schools in recent years”.

“I would doubt the resident objectors are aware of the extent to which the premises have been accessed and used as a drop-off and pick-up site for the distribution of illegal substances – and the serious hazard this presents to the safety of our youngest pupils on a regular basis,” the headteacher explained.

“The impact of this is that the nursery and reception garden cannot be used for learning by pupils until it has been checked every day by two adults who – although they sign it off as ‘checked and clear’ – could well have missed that one small item that could potentially be discovered and consumed by a child.”

The new mesh fencing will stand 2.4 metres tall and will completely enclose the school.

Ms Burrows said there would be “a suitable distance between the fence and neighbouring properties”, adding the reasons for its installation should be given “substantial weight”.

The planners, in their report, accepted a larger fence could have a visual impact but said “steps have been taken to mitigate harm by choosing a design that allows light and views clearly”.

They also judged any visual impacts for neighbours were “outweighed by the safety, operational and security benefits” of the fence for the school’s pupils, staff and visitors.