The Referendum

One of the Action Group’s first tasks has been to organise a referendum. We knew that both villages rose up as one in opposition to the proposed plans to close and merge the two schools. But we quickly realised that showing the authorities just how substantial this opposition is, would be key to our fight.

To quantify everyone’s feelings and to make it unarguable, the Action Group commissioned the Electoral Reform Society in London to conduct a referendum. All people from the following groups became Eligible Voters:

• All those whose names appear on the current Electoral Register in the Polling Districts of St.Tudy and St.Mabyn,
  
• All parents of children currently attending both schools,
  
• All parents of children currently attending both pre-school groups,
  
• All full and part-time teachers at both schools.

Every Eligible Voter received a ballot paper asking::

“Do you agree that both St.Mabyn and St.Tudy should keep their schools within their respective villages? Yes/No”

The ballot closed on Friday 27 November and the result declared on Tuesday 01 December:

• Eligible voters - 874
• Total votes cast – 608
• Turnout – 69.6%
• Spoilt ballots – 5
• Total votes counted – 603
  
• Number voting “Yes” – 587 (97.3% of total)
• Number voting “No” – 16 (2.7% of total)

This is clearly an overwhelming result, with just about every single person in both communities in favour of keeping the schools within the villages. The 70% turnout was described by the Electoral Reform Society as “beyond the top end of what we would have expected”.

The announcement of the referendum has already attracted considerable media interest and has clearly had an effect on attitudes at Cornwall Council. The Governing Bodies of both schools were invited to make a joint statement giving the reasons for supporting the proposed closures/merger and this statement would have been sent to every Eligible Voter. They declined this opportunity and so their thinking remains a matter of speculation.