Author: Sal
Newport Town Management Committee and Saint Helen’s Parish Council Vote Against Council Education Proposals
Tuesday, 12th February, 2008 at 10:35 am, Isle of Wight
Many thanks to Melanie Swan for sending through the news last night. Ed
In response to a letter from the Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils to Parish and Town Councils, the Newport Town Management Committee passed the following motion at its meeting on Monday 11th February :
‘Newport TMC opposes all three options for Isle of Wight schools reorganisation as they involve the wholesale closure of Island schools, including 6 in Newport (Summerfields, Hunnyhill, Carisbrooke CE, St Thomas of Canterbury RC, Node Hill Middle, and Carisbrooke High) and this is totally unacceptable.
The TMC calls on Members of the Isle of Wight Council to vote against all three options when the matter comes before the Council for a decision.” The NTMC motion was proposed by Isle of Wight Councillor, Melanie Swan, who resigned from the current Conservative Leadership Whip last December. Cllr Swan proposed the Motion in response to the huge volume of concerns expressed to Elected Members.
“Newport will be particularly affected with so many proposed closures and parents are fearful about the effect this will have on their children’s ongoing education.”
Amongst the six Committee members in support of this was the Chair of the Committee, and Labour Councillor for Pan, Geoff Lumley.
On the same evening, Saint Helen’s Parish Council also voted unanimously against all three of the Council’s current options. Cllr Patrick Joyce, who resigned from the Conservative Group at last month’s Council meeting, attended the meeting.
He said later “A critical issue people are raising with Councillors is the threat the three ‘education’ options pose to village life. Parish Councils have been working hard to develop their Parish Plans for a long time, only to learn that their local school, integral to these Plans, would be closed under all the options. This makes a nonsense of so-called ‘localism’. Without the infrastructure, the long term prospects for some villages are grim indeed.”
The Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils is holding a Special General Meeting on Monday 18th February with only one Agenda item “To consider the options for Education reform proposed by the Isle of Wight Council and the views of individual councils and to agree a collective response from IWALC”.
The meeting of the Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils is to be held only two days before the Full Council meeting on 20th February, which will vote on Cllr Joyce’s motion to halt the current education consultation and look for ways to avoid the mass closure of schools.
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Hear, hear! One of the things that was widely predicted (but strenuously denied by the council) was that the funds to see this through would not be available, so now we have primary schools required to accommodate two extra year groups, but with no LA strategy or money to cope. Everything short of actual help, in other words.
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