Doubts raised as Council plan threatens to leave local communities without enough primary school places
Bristol’s Liberal Democrat Councillors raised serious doubts about plans that threaten to leave areas such as Hengrove and Whitchurch Park without enough primary school places in a few years’ time. The Council strategy proposed a series of class closures across Bristol to account for the overall decline in birth rate and primary-aged children across the city.
However, these demographic changes are not uniform across the city. The reports splits up the city into 14 planning areas, which group several wards together. In the planning area for the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park ward, the data in the report shows that the area bucks the overall trend in that its birth rate is stable, if not slightly increasing. Further, the report estimates that the forecasted delivery of over 1800 new homes over the next 5 years will add an additional 9 children per primary school year each year.
Despite these two statistics suggesting that in the future, demand for primary school places in Hengrove and Whitchurch Park should increase, the Council’s report suggests the opposite. It suggests that the number of primary school places required in 2030/31 will be 5 fewer than in 2025/26. As a result, it is recommended that the equivalent of two classes are closed across the planning area over the next few years.
Opposing the threat to local schools, over 500 people signed the petition organised by Hengrove and Whitchurch Park’s Liberal Democrat Councillors, which was presented by Cllr Tim Kent to the Council on the 4th of November. Despite the mere 117 responses to the consultation on the Council’s plan for schools, no mention of the petition was included in the final report put before Councillors on the Children and Young People Committee for consideration.
Cllr Tim Kent (Liberal Democrat, Hengrove and Whitchurch Park) said:
“The Council’s plan to reduce the number of primary school places in Hengrove and Whitchurch Park flies in the face of logic and their own statistics. We know that the local area will be seeing massive development of new homes over the next few years, and that families from across Bristol will be moving into these and wanting to send their children to local schools. Yet, the Council is recommending the ward loses two classes.
“While the report identifies that, overall, Bristol will see a decline in the number of school-aged children, it completely fails to recognise the situation on the ground in the city’s local communities. As the ward councillor for Hengrove and Whitchurch Park, I know that my area is only going to see an increasing demand for school places in the coming years. It is crucial that capacity is maintained so that families in the area can send their children to their local school.
“With over 2400 new homes planned for the ward over the next 10 years, Hengrove and Whitchurch Park is likely to run out of primary school places by 2032. With the recommended class closures in the Council’s strategy, I fear that we will reach our capacity as soon as 2029”.
Children and Young People Committee Member Cllr Andrew Varney (Liberal Democrat, Brislington West) said:
“It is crucial that the Council gets things right when looking at our school capacities across the city. Communities rely on and often revolve around their local school, forming an anchor to bring families together. This is only emphasised in our most deprived areas, where families may find it harder to travel further afield to take their children to school.
“That is why I called for the plans to go back to the drawing board and for the Council to double-check its figures. When considering proposals that could transform communities and families’ lives, it is crucial that we have confidence in the data on which we have to rely. The local knowledge of his ward brought by Cllr Kent threw the figures contained within the report into doubt.
“Councillors know their areas best, and their voice must be listened to when making decisions that affect their local communities. I am disappointed that the strategy was passed with questions remaining about how it might impact primary school provision locally in Hengrove and Whitchurch Park in the future."
Notes to editors:
- Meeting recording: Children and Young People Policy Committee - Thursday, 27th November, 2025 5.00 pm
- Committee meeting papers, relevant item is Item 8 – School Organisation Strategy: ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk
- Figures on Hengrove and Whitchurch Park in particular are contained within Appendix 2, Pages 54-56 of the report: Appendix A2 - Evidence Summary for the School Organisation Strategy 2025 - 2028.pdf
- Public forum, including Cllr Kent’s Questions and Statement: (Public Pack)Public Forum Agenda Supplement for Children and Young People Policy Committee, 27/11/2025 17:00
- Petition – Save our Primary Schools: Protect our primary schools in Hengrove and Whitchurch Park - Bristol Liberal Democrats
- Previous press release: Protect our Primary Schools - Bristol Liberal Democrats