A SPIRITUAL group which won a tender to buy a school site amid public controversy must wait four weeks to find out if the deal will still go ahead.

Subud, a registered charity based in Lewes, had been expecting to exchange contracts on the derelict St Anne’s School site in the town, currently owned by East Sussex County Council (ESCC), after a second meeting to scrutinise the council’s decision-making process.

Subud won the site in Rotten Row in May 2013, despite its bid to ESCC not being the highest financially.

The group hopes to build rooms and a cafe for community use there.

The choice of Subud by the council attracted public outcry because opponents thought the site should be used for housing, even though ESCC maintains it is unsuitable for such use.

Subud, which stated it is not a religious organisation, survived an appeal before coming under fire over its founder’s views on homosexuality, gender roles and disabled children.

A highlight of the meeting was a conflict of opinion on the panel between councillors Jeremy Birch and chairman David Tutt over Subud literature regarding adoption and deformity.

Coun Birch said the literature “had no relevance to the scrutiny review” but Coun Tutt said it should be considered.

Rosalyn St Pierre, in her third term as an elected councillor for Lewes, opposes Subud getting the site and feels there is a “democratic deficit” in the way a steering group for the site was selected.

Coun St Pierre also wanted to know why the site, originally valued at £2 million, was sold to a bid substantially lower.

David Anderson, project leader for the St Anne’s bid on behalf of Subud Lewes, sought to address these points and countered another concern that taking over the site would lead to it becoming a national headquarters for the organisation.

The agreed lease is set to have clauses protecting its community use, with the freehold remaining with ESCC.

Paul Dean, head of member services, could not rule out Subud’s win being challenged if evidence pointed to flaws in the process but said it was “unlikely”.

He told The Argus: “We held this meeting to see if there may be improvements to find in the process in future.”

Coun Tutt said the panel would be “going diligently” through all the information received before reporting recommendations at a public meeting at County Hall in Lewes on November 14 at 2pm.