Proposals to close four Catholic schools in Flintshire and replace them with a single £55m school for pupils aged three to 18 have left one mother considering sending her children to school across the border in England.
Martina Crocombe, whose two daughters aged four and six attend St Anthony's Primary in Saltney, said the plans would leave her facing a 90-minute round trip to drop off and collect her children from the new school in Flint. She is now considering a non-Catholic primary school a 10-minute drive away in the English village of Lache.
Plans to close four Flintshire Catholic schools
Flintshire County Council's cabinet voted last month to push ahead with controversial plans to close St Anthony's Catholic Primary School in Saltney, St David's in Mold, St Mary's in Flint, and St Richard Gwyn High School in Flint. A new superschool would be built on the site of St Richard Gwyn.
Under the plans drawn up by Flintshire council and the Catholic Diocese of Wrexham, the four primaries would shut by August 31, 2027. Children would eventually attend a new English-medium Catholic voluntary aided school for pupils aged three to 18, to be established from September 1, 2027. The new superschool would run from the existing school sites until the new building is ready, expected to be September 2030.
Parents' concerns and opposition
Crocombe said she does not want to send her children to a superschool in Flint, citing the travel time and the impact on extra-curricular activities. "It takes 45 minutes to get to Flint on a good day and that means all their extra-curricular activities would be out of the window and I don't want our children that far away. It would be a 90-minute round trip," she said.
She added that moving her children to the school in Lache would mean they would not learn Welsh and would follow a different curriculum. "If we moved them to the school in Lache they would not learn Welsh and there is a different curriculum, which we don't want but is something we have to consider now," she said. She noted that St Anthony's is not in deficit and is a good school, but fears have been raised about the costs of running smaller schools.
Another parent, Kerry Hunt, who has one child at St Anthony's, said she has written a formal objection to the Wrexham Catholic Diocese and Flintshire council. "Unfortunately what has become increasingly apparent is that there seems to be one plan, one preferred outcome, and very little appetite to genuinely listen to the people these decisions affect," she said. "This is now the second consultation. At what point does public opposition become significant enough for you to stop and reconsider?"
Political and financial implications
Sam Rowlands, MS for Fflint Wrecsam, said he continues to oppose the plans. "I really am amazed that yet again we are facing another battle to save schools when there is so much opposition. It is truly unbelievable to see a council totally ignoring the public's views on these matters," he said. He urged people to share their views in the consultation, which closes on December 8.
The £55m school will be 85% funded by the Welsh Government's Sustainable Communities for Learning fund. The council will consider objections before a final decision. In a separate consultation, Flintshire council is looking at merging non-Catholic schools Saltney Ferry Primary and Wood Memorial Primary, with a statutory notice published and objections taken until December 1.
