Cash raised for possible legal fight against school plan

MORE than £7,000 has been raised to fund a possible legal challenge over council proposals to close and merge a Whitley Bay primary school.

- AUSTEN SHAKESPEARE

More than 4,000 people have signed a petition calling for Langley First School school to remain open. ‘And Vera author Ann Cleeves, who lives in Whitley Bay, has thrown her weight behind the campaign.

Already, over £7,400 has been donated via a GoFundMe to mount a potential legal challenge over the plans.

A consultation was launched last week over the future of seven schools across North Tyneside.

North Tyneside Council proposes to shut Monkseaton Middle School, where pupil numbers have fallen sharply.

‘There are also plans to merge six primary schools into three due to significant vacancies in classrooms. This would see the integration of Langley First School and Appletree Gardens First School, Forest Hall Primary School and Ivy Road Primary, and Greenfields Community Primary School and Hazlewood Primary School.

It is proposed that the Langley site be closed and the pupils moved to the Appletree campus, with the left over school buildings and land adopted by Woodlawn special school.