RESIDENTS of small villages need to be aware opposition to new housing could spell the end of their schools, the leader of Craven District Council has warned.

The chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has also stressed the importance to small communities of new housing to keep schools sustainable, following last week's decision by North Yorkshire County Council to close Horton-in-Ribblesdale Primary School.

The closure - in the face of strong opposition - came in the same week that a consultation was launched into the possible closure of Rathmell School, a second Church of England, Voluntary Aided school with less than 20 pupils on its roll, which if agreed, will close at the end of the school year, the same as Horton School.

Councillor Richard Foster, leader of Craven District Council, said families moving into the area would not go to villages without their own school.

"Losing a school is one of final nails in the coffin for an area. If there is no school, families won't come," he told last week's full meeting of Craven Council.

He added it was often the case that residents of small villages felt they did not need new houses.

"We need to get it out there, that without development, the small schools will go, and once homes become second homes, they don't ever seem to come back as first homes, for families," he said.

Settle ward councillor, Richard Welch, who attended the county council meeting in Northallerton when the decision on Horton was made, thanked officers and the chief executive for their support in opposing the closure - even though it had ultimately ended in failure.

It had been a very upsetting meeting which had seen supporters and children leaving in tears, he said.

"Sadly, the decision was made to close and on August 31, the school will be no more," he said.

Cllr David Ireton said the council - as the planning authority - was currently putting together its local plan, which identified sites for new houses across the area, outside the national park.

"We need to look at these rural villages and get some growth in them, if they are to survive. We need balanced growth to save the schools that we have," he said.

In May, last year, Rathmell Parish Meeting had its largest turnout for several years when villagers opposed the proposed allocation of housing sites in the Craven Local Plan.

Cllr Carl Lis, who represents Ingleton and Clapham on Craven Council, but is also chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, said he had been saddened by the decision to close Horton School and warned it could have a 'significant detrimental impact on the viability of the community'.

Cllr Lis, who took the unusual step of posting a statement on the national park's website, said: “In common with many other remote rural areas, the national park has a population that is already significantly older than the national average. As rural communities lose schools, so it becomes increasingly unlikely that they can hold on to, or attract, families with young children – creating a vicious cycle in which services continue to decline.

“The national park authority has no direct role in the provision of local schools. But the vision that we and our partners have set out in the YDNP Management Plan is for the park to be ‘home to strong, self-reliant and balanced communities’"

Following last week's decision to close Horton School, the council's executive member in charge of schools, Arthur Barker, criticised the national park's planning policies, which he believed did not allow the potential of more families moving to the area.

Cllr Lis said: “With the support of the national park authority, Craven District Council is embarking on a strategic approach to attract more young families to the Dales. We can achieve that only by safeguarding services, including by retaining good access to primary schools. However, I do recognise that some schools face severe financial difficulties and that the county council, along with all other public bodies, has tough decisions to make.”

Rathmell CoE VA Primary School has an overall 'good' rating, with some areas rated 'outstanding' from Ofsted. It currently has 19 pupils on its roll, with the number expected to drop to 15 by the end of the school year.

In the consultation document, governors say the decision taken because of low numbers and the school's financial position was taken with 'deep sadness' and without pressure from either the Leeds Diocese, or from North Yorkshire County Council.

Chairman of governors, Hilary Young, said there had been much deliberation and the exploring of possibilities.

"The decision has been made unanimously by all governors, with the best interests of the children in school now, and in the foreseeable future at the forefront of our thinking."

The consultation will run until Friday, March 24, after which the governors will consider all responses. If closure is agreed, the county council will publish statutory closure notices in May, which will be followed with another four weeks of consultation. A final decision will be made by the council in June, which could mean the school closing at the end of August.

A statutory meeting is due to take place today (Thursday) at the school at 6pm.