Parents of children at Ysgol Ciliau Parc say they still have serious questions and concerns about the future of education in the Aeron Valley after the deadline to register objections to the planned closure of three village schools expired.

They say their fears have remained unaddressed and their views lost during a ‘lengthy and confusing’ three-year consultation process.

Now the parents have written to Ceredigion County Council education officers requesting a face-to-face meeting.

Last Sunday saw the closure of the period when objections to the planned closure of Ysgol Ciliau Parc, Dihewyd and Felinfach primary schools could be made.

Parents are unhappy that the consultation has included four separate ‘community engagement’ exercises.

“My feeling is that if the Cabinet finalise the decision to close the three village schools based upon responses to this last notice period and the June consultation then they will have been misled by the education department’s processes” said one parent, Jack Cockburn.

“The overwhelming impression to me as a local parent has been that the consultation process was not designed to take community views and feed them into finding a meaningful solution to education in the Aeron Valley.

"It appeared the exercise was designed to gather parents’ views and ‘park’ them in a document somewhere on the council’s website while the officers pursued their preferred agenda.”

A Ceredigion County Council spokesperson said: “The responses are currently being collated and have not yet been presented to the council for formal consideration and decision.

"As the consultation process is not yet complete, we are unable to discuss any potential sites for the area school with anybody since this would obviously pre-determine the council’s decision."

See this week’s South Ceredigion paper for the full story, available in shops and as a digital edition now