Parents of children who attend a school in Stackpole have vented their frustration after they say there has been a lack of public information made available regarding the potential closure of the facility along with two others in the area.

Pembrokeshire County Council’s current proposal which has now gone out to statutory consultation with regards to the provision of education on the Angle Peninsula, could see the potential closure of Stackpole VC, Angle VC and Orielton CP schools, with a new 3-11 English medium VC school on a site in Hundleton established in their place.

At the recent public meeting on September 28 held in Pembroke Town Hall, the county council’s head of education, Kate-Evan Hughes, gave a presentation followed by a question and answer session.

However, many Stackpole parents felt that their questions were left unanswered, with the county council failing to provide key information with regard to the reorganisation of the Angle peninsular.

“As Stackpole parents, whilst we would prefer none of the schools to close, we also appreciate that there is a need for rationalisation on the peninsula in order to deal with surplus places and increasing budgetary constraints,” said a spokesperson for the group of parents opposing the proposal.

“However, we strongly disagree with this proposal and believe that a more cost effective and sustainable approach would be to refurbish/extend the Stackpole School site.”

“The council have estimated the cost of the new school to be in the region of £5.5m which would result in the council committing to capital expenditure of £2.75m. A remodelling or a refurbishment and extension of Stackpole School would surely provide a more cost-effective solution. We need to ensure that we are optimising any grant opportunities and not just maximising grant-funding,” they continued.

In their response to the consultation, the parents have also outlined issues concerning transport and travel times for pupils in the remote area of the peninsular; an environmental impact with regards to the increase in the carbon footprint of a new-build on a green field site; and the impact on the community that losing the Stackpole School would have.

“Without a school in the village of Stackpole, there will be nothing left except a pub. There will no longer be a focal point for the community and its families. Throughout the consultation process, the need to maintain a school with a rural/village ethos has been a constant factor in all the discussions,” continued the spokesperson.

“Several points were raised in the public meeting held at Pembroke Town Hall, to which Kate Evan-Hughes repeatedly said that she would email her responses as she didn’t have that information available to her on the night.

“When asked if the site of the new school would be revealed before the consultation responses have to be submitted, her response was ‘Yes’.

“This information still hasn’t been revealed! How are we supposed to make informed decisions when key details are missing? This was asked by a parent to the head of eduction via email - she didn’t reply!

“It was also asked if the information couldn’t be granted before the consultation deadline, could the date be moved so that people could make informed decisions - again she didn’t reply,” they added.