THE future of a tiny school hangs in the balance as plans proceed for a new village hall next door.

Governors of Sutton under Whitestonecliffe CE School say the school faces closure unless either provisions for a playground are made on the adjacent site, or a new school is built elsewhere.

The school uses the existing hall during the day, but the building is run-down. There have also been calls from villagers for the hall to be freed up for daytime activities.

Sutton Village Institute hoped to build a new hall on the site of the village garage, but the property failed to reach reserve price at auction. It remains unsold.

In an earlier vote, villagers agreed that if they failed to secure the garage site, the old hall would be demolished and a new one built in its place. Plans are now being developed.

But Alec Hornsby, chairman of the board of school governors, said that decision posed a real threat to the 39-pupil school. If a solution could not be negotiated, the school would try to move elsewhere.

"The school is most definitely at risk," he said. "This is make or break for us. Something has to happen because we cannot continue like this."

He said that for the school to remain on the site, it was legally required to develop a playground, which would be funded by North Yorkshire County Council's education authority.

However, past negotiations between the authority and the institute committee about the leasing of land for a playground have repeatedly broken down.

"Without a playground the school is finished," said Mr Hornsby. "But the authority has the resources and the committee has the land, and we are stuck in the middle."

Mr Hornsby also said there were concerns about prolonged disruption while a new hall was built. "The hall space is essential to us, and if that was taken away we would struggle to stay open," he said.

David Walkland, trustee of the village institute, said there were hopes to develop a dual-use playground area.

The school has achieved Beacon status for four years, and headteacher Susan Hollows won a rural teacher of the year award. Mr Hornsby said the governors, teachers and the parent support group were considering two courses of action.

He said the preferred solution was for the school to remain where it is, but an alternative would be to build a new 50-pupil school on a greenfield site. He said governors were looking into applying for outline planning permission, and examining finances.

"We have had numerous accolades and run a very good school, despite children and staff having to work in terrible conditions," said Mr Hornsby.

"It is early days and there is a lot to consider, but things will certainly have to change one way or another."

* Progress at long last?

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