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Friday 08.03.2019 thedistrictpost.co.uk
Horsham’s only independent newspaper 01403 289709
HORSHAM | BILLINGSHURST | HENFIELD | PULBOROUGH | SOUTHWATER | STEYNING | STORRINGTON
MP looks to assist Parents with their school placement fears russ bedford A Horsham School teacher has reached out to MP for Horsham Jeremy Quin after the school placement debacle caused anguish for many Families across the District. Andrea Thomas was among many upset and wrote to the Member or Parliament to express her anger, concern and worry in a letter that clearly echos the sentiments of Parents and Children alike. Many Children in the catchment area of Schools such as Tanbridge found themselves offered schools in Billingshurst and Crawley. Miss Thomas states, “This disgraceful situation of too few school places is a direct result of the increased housing developments in the Horsham area (which I support) BUT without the much needed investment in local public service infrastructure to support the rapid growth of housing.” With the huge profits made by the building developers when it comes to housing, it must be asked why are they not being asked to invest in the local community to support the families moving into the houses they quickly want to make money off? When a town has more residents
it earns more in council tax and with the new increases shortly coming into effect Miss Thomas raises the valid question of, “What is being done with the thousands of pounds of extra council tax money the local government will be taking from the extra houses?” With Bohunt due to open in September 2019 there have been a lot of Children placed there but for some this additional school doesn’t reach their catchment area either. It begs the question will catchment areas be extended to accommodate Children and as Miss Thomas says to Mr Quin in her letter, “I would like to understand how you as my local MP will be lobbying on my behalf to address this scandalous situation that so many children find themselves in now and will do in future years.” This issue isn’t unique to Horsham and this year The Good Schools Guide estimates that 606,000 places would be applied for, an increase of 23,000 on the previous year, experts also predict that 115,000 Children will miss out on their first choice school this year. In London there are approximately 700 Children without a placement for the new school year with a further 7250 not getting placed into any of their choices. In Hereford parents are planning to protest, and refer to the increased number of housing developments as adding a strain on the school system in the area.
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A bit of research carried out by our Friends at The Horsham Facebook page shows that Horsham is the town that has seen the most new houses built over the last 5 years in West Sussex with an average of 964 new dwellings, it is
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great that new houses are added to the area with a view to accommodating new Families but if the town cannot handle the extra demands that this puts on its resources then is it not right that they plan in expectation of this
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increased demand? Agree to build the houses and sell the land for development but once a certain quota of Schools or GP surgeries have been added first is surely the way forward? More on page 2