Saltney Ferry fears ‘forgotten’ as school closure looms
“We have always been the forgotten area – Saltney Ferry has no shop, no bus service, nothing and now a proposal to close the school.”
This stark comment was one of many submitted via a public consultation that have raised concerns among councillors about education provision in the town.
All three Saltney primary schools are subject to proposals to close or merge – plans which have been universally rejected by the community.
At a special meeting of Flintshire County Council’s Education, Youth and Culture Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday councillors raised concerns about one particular plan – to amalgamate Saltney Ferry CP School and Saltney Wood Memorial CP School.
They would be replaced with a £12.5m primary school for 315 pupils on the site of Saltney Wood Memorial CP School.
Flintshire’s Chief Officer for Education and Youth, Claire Homard said: “This proposal addresses a significant number of challenges faced in the Saltney area to ensure a sustainable and high quality educational offer for the future.
“Our focus is reducing the number of surplus places which diverts resources away from frontline delivery to pupils, improving the learning environment, securing excellent leadership to deliver the highest quality education, to make sure we can deliver a full curriculum offer and maximise the investment through the Sustainable Communities for Learning programme.
“It is an ambitious vision but we’re confident it will deliver a long-term, sustainable model, particularly in terms of our commitment to net-zero, with improved learning facilities to support all learners to achieve their potential.”
Cllr Fran Lister supported the idea of modernisation but expressed concern about the impact in Saltney.
“It feels Saltney is getting quite a bashing in this process,” she said.
“Moving to the Wood Memorial site will inevitably mean longer journeys for families living in Saltney Ferry – this is an area with a higher proportion of households on lower income – it could be a 45 minute walk.
“Saltney isn’t just a victim of lower birth rates, it’s a victim of geography. Some families are choosing better-funded schools in England because of perceived differences in funding, facilities and opportunities.
“Are we being ambitious or are we just simply saying ‘we’ve lost these students so we’ll reduce capacity’? Or are we going to build a flagship school that will hopefully draw families back into Wales to choose Welsh education?”
Mrs Homard said she was expected to see the latter, but recognised parents had free choice.
“We often see a ‘new school bounce’ where the new facility attracts families in,” she said. “But we respect that parents have a choice where to send their children.
“We all know that we are working within a really challenging financial landscape within local authorities and all the messages we are getting are that that’s not going to improve anytime soon.
“It is important schools do as much as they can as early as possible to manage resources as efficiently and effectively as they can.”
Cllr Andrew Parkhurst highlighted a clear disconnect between the proposals and the community response.
“One would have thought that a community would react very positively to a brand new, carbon neutral school with all the latest facilities but that isn’t the case is it,” he said.
“We see 95% of respondents from Saltney Ferry disagree with the proposal and 80% of respondents for Saltney Wood.
“Essentially all of those respondents’ views have been ignored and overridden.
“Then there’s safe routes – Saltney Ferry to Saltney is only 1.3 miles but the idea of scootering along Chester Road – I wouldn’t want to do it let alone my five-year-old child.
“When you look at a map a better solution would seem to be a centrally-located school for all the children of Saltney.
“Why has the site of St David’s High School not been considered? I understand it’s a pretty big site with lots of capacity. Is the agenda to get rid of St David’s?
“If we are driving our children across the border to England they are not going to come back for secondary school. What’s that going to do to St David’s viability?
“We seem to be looking at two individual schools, coming up with a solution and ignoring the rest of the equation. I hope Cabinet goes back to the drawing board. ”
It was highlighted that building on the St David’s High School site or a more central site in Saltney were not viable options due to flood risk.
Regarding safe routes to school, Jenny Williams, Flintshire Council’s senior manager for school place planning said: “We recognise there is a travel impact particularly for learners in Saltney Ferry. It’s actually considered a reasonable distance.
“We did some work with the road safety team looking at the route from Saltney Ferry to the proposed new site and the route isn’t classed as hazardous.”
That was a claim disputed by Cllr Carolyn Preece.
“Many children will face longer, less safe journeys. I was on Chester Road yesterday. That road is awful. We cannot underestimate how bad that journey is going to be.
“Then you have families where both parents work. They would be in a car and there goes your net zero calculations because the new build is then not net-zero.
“Both schools sit at the heart of their neighbourhoods. They are not just educational settings, they are safe family spaces where generations of families have built connections, friendships and a sense of belonging.
“Closing them would fracture these ties – particularly in Saltney Ferry where the school is one of few remaining community anchors. We don’t want to forget these people, we don’t want to forget their community.
“I understand falling birthrates and the drive for efficiency but if the result is a loss of local trust, disengagement with families and fewer children in our schools we will not have achieved sustainability, just shifted the problem somewhere else.
“I propose we ask the Cabinet to pause, to listen carefully to the overwhelming community voice to consider whether this is the right path for Saltney.”
Cllr Preece’s recommendation did not secure the majority support of members with the committee split and Chair Cllr Theresa Carberry delivering the casting vote.
“In every proposal we’ve always seen that initial level of adverse reaction to the proposal,” said Mrs Homard.
“What we find as that proposal then progresses people’s attitudes change as they become excited about a brand new 21st century state-of-the-art facility. In Trefynnon for example where there was huge opposition to that proposal but actually the families did use their local school.”
Cabinet will consider whether to move the scheme into a statutory objection period on Tuesday, October 14.
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
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