PARENTS of children at Larkrise may be wrong if they believe Wiltshire Council is not going to close the Trowbridge special school in the near future, the town clerk warned councillors this week.
He spoke as the council decided to note the closure, which it has opposed, and wait to see if the WC plan is approved by the Secretary of State for Education.
Wiltshire Council has made the decision to close both Larkrise and St Nicholas on Chippenham and replace them with a new £20 million super school in Rowde by 2021.
Trowbridge councillors have been against the proposal since it was announced last year but now they feel there is nothing else they can do.
Councillor Steve Oldrieve said: “As I understand it it is now up to the Secretary of State and we just have to hope that our MPs can have some influence on that.
“I think that although Wiltshire Council has described it as an amalgamation, they can use what words they like, but a closure is a closure and it is Trowbridge that is going to be losing out.”
Town clerk Lance Allan said: “The parents of pupils at these schools seem to believe that what’s been approved by Wiltshire Council is that no decision has been taken yet on which schools will close, and they will remain open until some point in the future when a decision is made.
“I’m not quite sure if that is my reading on it. It is almost to me as if they have been persuaded that that’s the decision but Wiltshire Council have just used words very carefully. The parents have confirmed that they are not looking to take any further action to question the decision-making process.”