He said he could not remember any Labour councillors in Ovenden putting up a fight to save the Ridings school.
We had the same problem in Mixenden.
It was sheer people-power pressure that saved our school, although in our case the reason for cl
osure and its aims for the future were different.
Our closure would have caused a dog-eat-dog situation among many parents with infants trying to secure a place in the small school lower down, leaving the rest having to travel out of the area to place their infants elsewhere.
We felt it was merely a cost-cutting exercise, without a care or thought about our infants.
We too were treated with contempt, when asking for support against closure from labour councillors.
Coun Barry Collins told Mixenden people that their school was a lost cause. I am glad he didn't get his way. Local people fought hard and kept it.
The Ridings School closure is a different kettle of fish. It was born under Blunkett when he was the minister for education. He wanted academies.
When questioned at the time by a tough political interviewer, it was put to him that academies were costing the public a fortune, shareholder's were making massive profits and wasn't it a cop out of Government responsibility? He didn't deny this was the case.
Blunkett said, although it could be the case that profits could be made, it wasn't the reason why this Government had thought it was a good idea to introduce academies.
This should have sent alarm bells off that this idea on academies would be another costly experience to the taxpayers, with massive profits for someone.
Just like our library, the question needs to be asked: who is paying for these changes? Is the money being provided by Government? Has this local authority got that much money spare they have enough to do both library and the academy?
Or just like our ex-council homes, do they intend to throw us once again into the lions den of bankers and shareholding profiteers, to fund these two expensive buildings, at times when we should be tightening our belts?
If the answer is the latter we should not be doing either of them and they should be opposed right to the bitter end.
H. Terry
