A public consultation has started on closing a secondary school campus to the surprise of at least one councillor.
Brighton and Hove City Council started the consultation on Tuesday 22 April after head teacher Jim Roberts announced a proposal to close Hove Park School’s Valley campus in Hangleton Way in January.
Conservative councillor Ivan Lyons was surprised to see the consultation posted on the Brighton and Hove Schools Catchment Areas Facebook group a few days later because he had not been notified that the process was starting.
Councillor Lyons, who represents Westdene and Hove Park ward, was told about the consultation after it had opened, after a first online Teams meeting and just a few hours before a second Teams meeting.
He said: “I have requested another Teams meeting so that all interested parties can plan their diaries accordingly.
“It’s as though the Labour council are trying to keep the proposed closure as quiet as possible, having come into office in 2023 on a ticket of not closing schools and then subsequently closing two primary schools within the city a few months later.”
Pupil numbers have been falling and school funding is based on the number of students, bringing the cost of keeping two sites open into sharp focus.
The prospect of pupil numbers falling further has made it harder for Hove Park to deal with a deficit of more than £500,000.
Even before the latest forecasts, pupil numbers have gone from 1,604 in 2013 to 1,214 in 2021 and 1,051 in 2024.
The school’s capacity is 1,604 and the intake – or published admission number (PAN) – is 180. This sets the school on course to have 900 pupils.
The school has about 160 staff, some of them part-time, and an annual budget of about £10 million.
The consultation asks respondents if they support closing the Valley site and what special facilities they would need to support their child if the move goes ahead.
Brighton and Hove City Council said: “Proposals to focus the school on to one site have come directly from the school.
“The council is supporting the process by hosting the consultation on our online platform.
“This consultation launched on Tuesday 22 April and is open until Tuesday 3 June so people have time to provide their feedback for Hove Park School and councillors to consider.
“There are also two in-person consultation events planned in May as well as online events.
“While this proposal is directly from the school, a final decision will be made by cabinet as part of the council’s responsibilities around school asset management. Everyone’s views will be taken into account.
“As with any decision which impacts our school community, we would encourage anyone impacted to share their thoughts – including councillors and representatives from other local schools.”
The two in-person events are due to take place at the Nevill Campus on Wednesday 7 May and the Valley Campus on Tuesday 20 May.
The consultation – Proposed Changes to Hove Park School – can be found on the council’s website.
Why is the Labour government not doing anything that properly addresses the flaws and unfairness in the national funding formula!
Will the council give this one away free of charge to the Diocese of Chichester like they did St Barts?
Does anyone know why they did that yet?
The CofE already owned St Barts. The reason why student numbers are reducing is because no-one can afford to live in Brighton & Hove and raise a family due to exorbitant housing costs. Let’s concentrate on making housing truly affordable not just window dressing to get planning permission.
Object to this proposal! Falling school numbers is temporary – the loss of a school site will have lasting affects.. it will not resolve anything. A perfectly functioning site should be retained at all costs. The Nevill area has enough schools, traffic and development already
In reality, Brighton and Hove have experienced a sustained and long-term decline in pupil numbers. For example, Hove Park School’s enrolment has fallen from over 1,600 students in 2013 to just over 1,000 in 2024, and further reductions are projected. This mirrors a wider demographic trend; the number of children under five in the city dropped by over 20% between the 2011 and 2021 censuses.
These aren’t short-term fluctuations but part of a steady decline in birth rates.
Ann Nicky is quite correct. New families cannot afford to live in London-By-The-Sea…
This is a simple reflection of the housing crisis we’ve been facing for well over 20 years in this city. The money isn’t there. The council are broke.
I urge people to email for the refusal of these plans. Message the following schoolorganisation@brighton-hove.gov.uk
The proposal to close a school site due to falling numbers and costs is completely flawed – it will be Legally challenged by existing and future Parents, Students and Residents from various approaches. We are not willing to let this proposal happen whatsoever.
The following provides a summary of why this proposal is not acceptable.
1) Falling School Numbers
There are around 3,000 new homes being built in this area of Hove within the next couple of years. These include Sackville Estate (824 homes plus more proposed), Hove Gardens (216 homes plus more proposed), Lyon Close (154 properties and more being built), Benfield/North of Hangleton Lane (over 100 houses), Toads Hole Valley (at least 825 homes). Orchard Gardens/Hove Panel Works site (42 new homes). This does not include other potential new house sites eg the Greyhound Stadium, Goldstone Retail Park, former Homebase site, Currys site, Baker & Stonehouse site and various other warehouse plots along Old Shoreham Road. These are all within 1 mile of this school.
The local Government is determined to increase house building. The Hove population is going to significantly increase very soon. Where are the children that move here going to go to school? Each home could have three children living in the property needing to be educated. With 3,000 homes there could be 9,000 students to find a place at school!
How can Brighton & Hove Council and Hove Park School justify closing a perfectly functioning school site that has received millions in development funding in recent years? There will be a duty to educate these new children in this area of Hove which cannot happen if the Valley site is closed.
Hove Park School provides a vital school for people in the immediate area without having religious selection requirements. The numbers of this school will undoubtedly increase significantly. This will not be able to take place if they loose the Valley campus.
The Nevill campus cannot and should not accommodate these extra children. The facilities and available capacity is already in place between the two sites at Nevill and Valley Campuses. The Valley site must not close as it produces a vital buffer for existing and new families for this area of Hove. School capacity should be increasing in this part of Hove not decreasing!
The City plan sets out a minimum of 13,200 homes being built between 2010 and 2030, with 30,120 being the objectively assessed housing need (OAN). The vast majority of these homes are now being completed with several thousand more to shortly follow. Hove Park area is the biggest draw for Developers to build these homes (with the seafront and south downs between this area not able to be built on). An influx of people into this immediate area is about to happen. School facilities must therefore be retained not lost.
This proposed decision comes across as being a short sited. Almost as if this school just has a lack of enthusiasm to have two campuses. Your justification that “there have been falling birth rates” is completely flawed. Almost every Western country in the world has falling birth rates – does this mean every school needs to close sites and reduce their capacity? This approach is not accepted and must not be relied upon when making important decisions.
As a minimum the proposals must be delayed for the next couple of decades to assess migration and the needs of the population in this area. We are on the cusp of a significant population increase directly by Hove Park School. This must form the basis of the decision rather than falling birth rates.
2) Lack of Money/Funding
The other approach of “a lack of funding and money” is flawed. Money is based on student numbers – a larger capacity school will generate increased student numbers and therefore increased funding. Student numbers will increase dramatically as these homes are shorty to be completed with people moving into this area of Hove.
The money being spent on moving, re-building and converting the Nevill campus is going to be extortionate. These facilities are already in place so why start again?! Millions have been spent on the Valley Campus which is specifically designed to suit this school and it’s students. Savings will not occur by having one site, staff members won’t disappear. Energy bills will remain, buildings will still need maintenance etc.
Money should not be abused in this way. Just because the development money comes from a different department, it still needs to be funded by the tax payer. Again a proposed Legal challenge will be upheld and block the suggested school site closure.
3) Traffic/Road Safety
Traffic is already dangerous and excessive in the Nevill Road area. Having additional children arriving and with the significant increase in new homes here will exacerbate traffic, noise, pollution and the risk of accidents. The Valley Campus must remain to avoid this getting worse.
4) Neighbouring Residents
Noise, overshadowing and disturbance to local residents in this area of Hove must be taken into consideration. Any proposed development on Nevill campus will undoubtedly create issues to residents and the wider community. The school should not dismiss this for their own unjust cause. Valley campus should therefore remain in use to avoid unnecessary development disturbance. Otherwise measures to reduce impact must be taken eg height and size of buildings, no 4g sports pitch, no flood lights, etc.
Conclusions
The Valley and Nevill sites work in partnership to provide school facilities to this part of Hove. Student number provision needs increasing especially as we are on the cusp of a population influx in this part of Hove.
Parents, students and future students plead that the proposal to close a perfectly functioning school site does not happen. Limited tax payer money should not be wasted re-building facilities that are already in place. Once this school site is shut it will be gone forever – I can assure you there will not be the time, money or effort to bring it back into use (indeed why move students in the first place then?).
The recent case at Duror Primary School in Scotland Highlands is an example – this school will be allowed to remain open (despite having just 2 children and funding issues). This due to the likely migration of people into this area with future school numbers expected to increase. The same approach must be taken in Hove. We are willing to take this argument to the highest level if need be.
Both Nevill and Valley sites have been in place for decades, why suddenly change this based on recent funding gaps (which indeed all schools have the same issue) – the proposals are being steamrolled for personal gain and are not to the benefit of students or future generations whatsoever. At all costs the proposed loss of this school site must not happen.