Wokingham Borough Council have just held their latest consultation meeting regarding the Maiden Erlegh catchment changes .It was great to speak to many Park Residents during the march down to the school and I was glad to see that the meeting was made up of residents from Wokingham and Reading. It actually appeared as if the Wokingham residents were in the majority. Both sets of parens were united against the proposals by the fact that it discriminates against residents in Reading and in Wokingham.
Proposals
Wokingham stuck very strongly to their proposal for entrance to either Maiden Erlegh being decided by the distance from Maiden Erlegh minus distance from Bulmershe as measured from their house measured as the crow flies. They claimed that this represented the best option for the majority of Wokingham residents, this despite the fact that their plan will obviously now exclude a great number of children who live in roads such as Silverdale as well as Park and who would normally expect to get in to Maiden Erlegh.
Responses to questions from the floor
Wokingham’s spokesman stated that while the public meeting was important they really wanted as many people as possible to respond to the consultation in writing. This must be done by the 14th Feb. While I could give a blow by blow account of the meeting, little new information was given by Wokingham and I encourage as many people to write to Wokingham Borough Council as possible. If you would like to see a blow by blow account of the meeting please see my blog , where I have published my Twitter feed notes made during the meeting. The link is here I have tried to keep my notes as unemotional as possible. The address to reply to the consultation is:
School Admissions Consultation
Wokingham Borough Council
Children’s Services
Civic Offices
Shute End
Wokingham
RG40 1WN
You can also email your comments to: admissions.review@wokingham.gov.uk
The consultation can be linked to here.
At the risk of repeating myself please write to Wokingham as a matter of urgency.
If you would like help writing to Wokingham Borough Council the Maiden Erlegh Catchment Parents' Group is holding drop in meetings at Lady Of Peace Church Hall, Earley on Friday 21st January from 6pm to 9pm and at Park Church Hall, Palmer Park Ave, on Friday 4th February from 6pm to 9pm.
Way forward
Wokingham will close its consultation on the 14th February. Its officials will collate the comments and amend their proposals in the light of the comments, or not. The final report will be submitted to the Council’s Admissions Panel and then proceed to their Cabinet for approval. Once the proposal have been approved, it can be referred to the Schools Adjudicator. I assume that there will be a chorus of complaint and the Adjudicator will have to review and finally approve the decision.
Wokingham are planning to have the process finished by April
I hope that this brings you up to date on the results of the meeting. It is clear that Wokingham is determined to see the process through and to push ahead with its plan.
Once again the best defence against the plan is to write in with your comments.
New Petition
In order for residents to have the opportunity to express their concerns about Wokingham's plans to exclude South Park's children from the school we have started a new petition. While the most important element is to write directly to Wokingham it would be useful if you could show your support in this way. The petition can be reached here.
Best regards
