Residents’ fears that village primary schools across the Vale are not safe from closure are “justified”, local Conservative councillors have said.
Llancarfan Primary School is set to close next year, under plans pushed through by the Labour-run Council.
Local people in other villages across the Vale, including Peterston and Pendoylan, now fear that their schools could be next.
The move to close Llancarfan School and replace it with a larger school some five miles away is seen as a desire by the Council to “consolidate” smaller community schools by merging them with schools in larger areas.
Conservative councillors have all pledged that they will not consider closing any village schools, but have warned that will only be guaranteed by a Con-servative run council.
Shadow Cabinet Member for Education Cllr Gordon Kemp said,
“Village schools are vital to the local community, and they must be protected at all costs. But unfortunately, the Labour-run Council do not understand that. They are completely detached from the needs of rural villages. That’s why they pressed ahead with closing Llancarfan School, despite the justified objections from local people. Conservative councillors are rooted in rural communities and know the role the village school plays. No closures would happen on our watch. Labour only run the Council because they are propped up by “Vale Independents”, who have gone back on a pledge they made at the last election not to close any rural schools. Only a Conservative councillor can be trusted to protect our village schools.”