GLOBE COMMENT:

TO the surprise of absolutely no one, Wirral Council's Labour cabinet unanimously agreed to close Lyndale School.

After ten months of allowing parents of vulnerable children to hope the "consultation" was not the sham everyone had suspected it was, councillors finally swung their axe on Thursday night.

This was after listening to mum Zoe Anderson's impassioned pleas telling them in precise and moving detail why they should keep the school open.

This was after 10,692 people signed a petition to spare the school - although the council said some of the signatories were discounted as they "don't live in Wirral."

How strange. One wonders then if the views of the upper echelon of our local authority should be discounted for the same reason?

Be that as it may, a "vote" was taken and the cabinet - whose education spokesman claimed had come to the meeting with an "open mind" - closed the school.

They then handed out a pre-written document explaining why they had done so.

To add insult to injury, a consultant - whose services we the taxpayers had hired at a cost of £10,000 - told sobbing parents the council had been "extremely generous" in holding a series of six consultation meetings before shutting the doors.

Nobody said Lyndale was failing. Quite the opposite. Councillors have been queuing up to extol the school's virtues.

The reason, if "reason" is the correct word in the context of this decision, is that the school is "not a financially viable option."

But no money will be saved - the cash follows the individual children to whichever school they may now end up in.

And yet money seems to be there to burn on occasion. The hundreds of thousands of pounds spent on refurbishing the town hall in Brighton Street is a case in point.

It’s not a lack of funds that’s the problem, it’s a lack of will and questionable priorities.

The council's prepared statement said falling pupil numbers meant the school "will not meet the educational needs of the children."

Little wonder pupil numbers have diminished after almost a year of living under the shadow of closure.

Wirral Council has sold the Lyndale families down the river.

When the dust settles on last night's farce of a meeting, and the devastated parents have had time to recover, there is no doubt they will continue their battle with the town hall, hoping higher authorities might recognise the unique value Lyndale brings to our borough and its most vulnerable children.

The Globe will be with them every step of the way.