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Anger as another school is set to go
Tina Curran23/ 2/2006
DESPERATE parents and governors at a second primary school earmarked for closure are prepared to battle Rochdale Council all the way.
In a meeting held at Langley Primary scores of parents turned up to voice their fears for the future and plead for the school's reprieve.
Education officials have confirmed they are considering plans to demolish the Thirlmere Drive complex and move its 300 pupils to the estate's Furrow Community School.
During the consultation meeting tempers flared and parents and school governors questioned the council's reasons to demolish the building.
Now they have vowed to fight the decision to move their children to another school.
The council hopes to get the go-ahead for a new academy to be built on the Furrow site, making it a new education facility for children in Middleton. But parents have said since the academy has not been confirmed, there is not a strong enough case to close Langley Primary.
Les Ward, deputy chairman of Langley Primary spoke out at the meeting, fearing for the future of a school which he adores. He said: "They want this academy to be built on the Furrow site. But ours is an old school which was built in the 1950s.
"Our premises are lovely and spacious and we are central in the estate in an enclosed position unlike Furrow which is on a busy trunk road."
Proposals for an academy to be built on the Furrow site have yet to be confirmed and parents have taken this argument as a meagre excuse for the demolition of their school.
Mr Ward said: "More than 70 parents turned up for the meeting and they were vociferous, indignant, outspoken and worried. They don't want to send their children to another school.
"At the meeting we had a poorly child stand up and express her concerns saying how supportive the school was when she was ill."
Parents also fear the school will be knocked down for houses, halting any plans for building a new school in the future.
Mr Ward said: "I know this school and the staff and they are fantastic. We have a wonderful teaching staff a great headteacher and an ethos which I worry will be lost.
He claims parents no longer trust the council to make the right decision, and they are now going to fight any move to close their school.
Karen Perkin, whose five children have all been taught at the school, has taken steps to contact Jim Dobbin MP.
She said: "We want to get a petition going at the school and let parents get their views across.
"It is a fantastic school and has helped all my children and it will be the wrong decision to demolish it.
"For the past six or seven years the test results have been excellent for this school but the council panel didn't take any notice of this.
"The education standard is phenomenal and all my children have benefited from going to the school."
Parents are now organising a meeting to be held in March with councillors and council officials to talk in more depth about the proposals and get the strength of their opinions across.
Andy Smart, the council's school re-organisation manager, said: "There were a lot of parents at the meeting and the next stage is to report their feelings back to the cabinet in March. They will decide whether to go ahead with the proposals or not.
"The decision definitely has not already been made. It is not for us to make.
"We are quite far off from a decision now. There will be more consultation if it goes on after this so there will be more chances for people to have their say."
Parents of pupils at Alkrington Moss Primary are facing a similar battle after Rochdale Council decided to look into the possibility of closing the popular Arden Avenue school. Due to falling numbers on the school roll, education officials are in the process of consulting parents, staff and governors on closing the school and sending pupils to neighbouring ones.
The results of the consultation will be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting in March, but parents have vowed to not let the school close without a fight.
Most recent 2 of 2 user comments
Back in 1997-98 Riverside / Bowlee Park Housing Association submitted a report to the DTI in relation to Langley estate, in the plans it outlined their proposals for the first 10 of the regeneration program for Langley, including in these plans was clearly marked out the demolition of the Langley Primary school with the sale of the schools playing fields, taking in the top and middle section of Mosdale Rd for a new and private housing development scheme.
The excuse Bowlee Park / Riverside used in their report was that because of the amount of void properties already on the estate and with more to come , would result in numbers of school children declining in the area and that it would not be feasible for the two schools on Langley to operate to full capacity, but they would be willing to extend the Furrow school for the small over flow of children from Langley Primary. At the time the ManchesterEvening News ran different stories over the concerns of the sale of The land, but their articles along with my letters in the postbag section outlining this new scheme were quickly put down to me scaremongering and spreading false information among local residents, these claims were also denied by Langley??<sup>TM</sup>s elected councillors
The decision to close Langley Primary school with a perfectly good and sound background history has in my eyes already been done, Rochdale Council are just taking the local residents through the legal process by law of allowing them to voice their concerns and objections, furthermore what ever the council states to you openly or in the press I would take with a pinch of salt, I would not trust the council as far as I could throw them,
It will be interesting to see what side of the fence Langley??<sup>TM</sup>s elected councillors sit on, will they support the parents and children of Langley Primary School or not
1/03/2006 at 19:23
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3/03/2006 at 12:28