Sir.-Residents are rightly angry at the plans not to build the new Sherfield Park School.

I have long campaigned for local schools to meet local needs in our borough.

The Tory county council, which is the local education authority, has decided it will not build one-form entry primary schools, and that, as a matter of policy, it will seek to create bigger primary schools, even if it means children travelling distances.

The county closed Beech Down Primary, and Hawthorns - for different reasons - but I feel the latest cutback by the Tory county council is just rubbing salt in the wound.

Basingstoke residents deserve better from the county council. It is bad enough that many are forced to drive past schools on their doorstep. Now we face threats of school closures and cutbacks.

Education is the greatest gift we can give our children and we must make sure communities have the best school facilities.

Our villages need local schools, just as they need other local facilities that meet their community's requirements.

It makes no sense whatsoever for the county council to pull the plug on a new primary school. It chooses where to spend and how to manage the money taken from the taxpayers of Basingstoke, and, after years of massive council tax hikes, all that the Tory county council can offer is school cutbacks.

When we build new developments such as Sherfield Park, local primary schools are vital. When plans are agreed and the community given assurances, it is disgraceful to see U-turns like this.

I will continue to fight for Basingstoke schools to get the resources they need to deliver the best education possible for our children.

-Paul Harvey, Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Basingstoke.