Following the announcement by Durham County Council that the consultation on the proposed closure of Roseberry College & Sixth Form in Pelton is to be extended for a further four weeks, Kevan Jones, Member of Parliament for North Durham, has written to Durham County Council reiterating his concerns.
In a letter to the Corporate Director for Children and Adult Services, Rachael Shimmin, Mr. Jones wrote, “I share the concerns of parents, students and teachers in relation to this proposal and remain entirely unconvinced of the case for closure.
“I remain very concerned about the issue surrounding capacity in other schools within the area, as from my enquiries it would seem North Durham Academy is the only school with a reasonably large number of available places. I would therefore be interested to know exactly what existing capacity is available in other local schools and how this compares with the projections for future intakes at Roseberry.
“I am also concerned about what travel arrangements would be put in place in the event of closure, including funding arrangements, for students who would no longer live within walking distance of their school. It would of course be very unfair to make families pay for transport when they previously would have lived only a short walk from the school.”
Mr. Jones went on to raise concerns about the potential loss of a well used community facility, and also questioned the financial case for going ahead with closure.