IT was made very clear at the public meeting at Sandringham School last night (Monday, February 25) regarding changes to the County Council's policy on admission to secondary schools, just how little thought and planning had gone into the preparation of the proposals.

Robert Gordon (Executive Member of the County Council for Children, Schools and Families) and Nick Powley (Education Access Manager) repeatedly avoided answering (or indeed were simply unable to answer) the barrage of searching and deeply worrying questions which were put to them.

When it was pointed out, for example, by the very first questioner that one effect of the proposals was effectively to exclude many children from attending either of Sandringham or Beaumont (their two closest schools) where previously they might have attended either, Mr Gordon replied that he thought the questioner must be wrong in his analysis.

Sadly for him, and for those affected if these proposals ever come into effect, when he turned to Mr Powley for confirmation, Mr Powley instead confirmed that the questioner was absolutely correct. If the Executive Member of the Council responsible for these proposals does not even understand the implications of what is proposed, what hope is there that any of the other 76 councillors will have any real concept of what they are being asked to vote on.

These are real issues. Real children are going to be hurt by these proposals. To say (as was said over and over again) that in order to help some people we have to hurt some others is simply not good enough, particularly where (as became very clear during the course of the evening) no attempt has been made to predict the number of those likely to be adversely affected with any degree of accuracy.

This plan to find places for children in the outlying villages at a school in St Albans at the expense of St Albans children, and in order, it would seem, to avoid the no doubt politically distasteful alternative for the Harpenden councillors at the forefront of the proposals of placing the children at Harpenden schools as many of them are now, must be stopped in its tracks.

Duncan Gibbons, Warwick Road,St Albans.