Saving 27-pupil Walney Island school 'not feasible'

Councillors say the building can be re-purposed into a special needs school

It is "not feasible" to object to the closure of a primary school which has seen pupil numbers drop to 27, a councillor has said.

North Walney Primary and Nursery School, on Walney Island in Barrow-in-Furness, has seen numbers drop from 84 in 2019.

Councillor Anne Burns told a meeting on the planned closure: "We want the best education for the children."

A public consultation is due to end in mid-December.

The Labour councillor added: "I don't think we can actually object to this.

"I would love to say let's get out there and get a banner going, and let's get a group going to object to all this, it's not a feasible option."

'Unsustainable workload'

There is a "significant" number of surplus places in the Walney Island area, a report prepared for the meeting said.

This means there is less money available to support teaching, making it "increasingly challenging" to provide a "broad and balanced quality educational offer", it added.

The report also said: "The local authority is concerned that the school's current financial position is increasing the workload on school staff to levels that the council believes is reaching an unsustainable level."

Frank Cassidy said he and his two fellow Walney Labour councillors hope the school can "be re-purposed to accommodate children who find things a bit difficult in mainstream education".

The public consultation will end on 12 December, with a further report to be presented to the council's cabinet in January.