TOWN councillors in Guisborough are to spearhead community action over a planned merger of two local schools.

They are to organise a major public meeting to open up debate on the issue.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council wants to amalgamate the Park Lane Infants' and Northgate Junior schools into one primary on one site - at Northgate.

But councillors want to give townspeople a range of options.

They are also worried about the possible impact on a Sure Start education scheme earmarked for the Northgate area.

Parents and school governors turned up to hear the scheme discussed at a meeting of the council on Thursday of last week.

Coun Barbara Punshon, chairman of governors at Park Lane, said the borough wanted to merge the schools because of falling pupil numbers.

"It has been on the cards for some time," she said.

A feasibility study was produced after a borough team visited the schools during the summer holidays.

"That study could have been written on a cigarette packet," she said. "And it produced just one proposal - to amalgamate at Northgate. We want more than one option to be put forward.

"Falling rolls will happen elsewhere, so why not build a new school in the centre of town to cater for everyone?

"We want a debate and we want the town council to help us get these options from Redcar and Cleveland.

"The borough council has not thought about the people and the effect on children who would have to travel long distances to school."

Roma Ross, governors' chairman at Northgate, said there were many questions, such as the amount of space in the new building.

"But basically I agree with amalgamation," she said. "It will be good for the community."

She floated the idea of another use for the Park Lane building and disagreed that distance was a problem for pupils.

"If we don't make a decision we might lose the Sure Start scheme," she said. "It is doing wonderful work and we want it here."

Coun Punshon doubted that Northgate had the space to offer Park Lane children the facilities they currently enjoyed.

Branding the feasibility study "an abysmal piece of work," Coun Dave Punshon said the borough was looking at the issue from a cost-cutting point of view. "They should be looking at the whole education process in Guisborough," he said.

But he felt Sure Start, which is set up in deprived areas to work with children and parents, should extend to the whole town, not just Northgate.

Coun Dave Punshon said people should be aware of the "moral blackmail" surrounding Sure Start.

"We don't want short-term decisions. The future of Guisborough's children is more important than that," he said.

Coun Keith Pudney wanted to see Sure Start taken out of the equation.

"It is a red herring," he said. "The amalgamation should be dealt with on its merits and when that is sorted Sure Start can be implemented."

Council chairman Bill Clarke said education in Guisborough was "a mish-mash which needed sorting."

Coun Clarke, visited both schools last Friday to gauge staff reaction to the proposed merger.

He said: "I spoke to both heads and most of the staff and, although they were generally in favour of some sort of amalgamation, there was a feeling of unease and uncertainty about the future."

* Northgate has 170 pupils and capacity for 224. Park Lane has 113 children and a capacity for 189, with 39 nursery places