Hundreds march through Huddersfield Town Hall against Kirklees Council schools plan

Jun 25 2009 By Barry Gibson

Back in the meeting, councillors heard official protest speeches by parents, teachers and children.

Castle Hall pupil Jade Wilkinson, 15, said: “I’ve collected 300 signatures against the closure and no-one I asked refused to sign. Please don’t ruin the education of children in Mirfield.”

The council’s Cabinet wants to close Castle Hall and expand nearby Mirfield Free Grammar. But that school’s principal Lorraine Barker opposes the proposal.

She told councillors: “You plan to have 1,900 students on our site, which has a capacity of 1,500 with no room to safely expand. You’ve ignored your electorate. We will take our opposition to the Schools Adjudicator.”

But the council’s Cabinet member for schools Clr John Smithson denied he had ignored protests. The Almondbury Lib Dem said: “We listen to what people say, but there’s a difference between listening and agreeing.”

Clr Smithson added that Castle Hall was not achieving good enough exam results. He said: “It’s a coasting school, Ofsted has said that students are not challenged. We’re continually told what a wonderful school Castle Hall is and frankly, it’s not.”

Kirklees began legal moves to close Castle Hall last week. Cabinet will make a final decision on the rest of the north Kirklees plan this autumn.

A schools plan for south Kirklees will be unveiled later this year.

Clr Smithson swore at the Mayor of Kirklees after she told him to stop eating in the council chamber last night.

The councillor was rustling what appeared to be a paper bag of food as Mirfield resident Lisa Sutcliffe spoke against the closure of Castle Hall.

The Mayor, Clr Julie Stewart-Turner, told Clr Smithson to be quiet. He replied: “If that’s what you want, I’ll b****r off.” He then left the council chamber for five minutes.

While he was away, Labour’s Clr Ken Smith said Clr Smithson was unwell. Clr Smith told the meeting: “John Smithson is seriously ill and may be in pain. He may need to take some form of sustenance.”