The basic problem with the secondary schools admissions system in Brighton is that there are not enough places at the in-demand schools.

As long as there is a shortage of places in popular schools, any so-called solution will simply satisfy parents in some areas and leave others out in the cold.

Unfortunately, the recent working group set up to look at the problem by Brighton and Hove City Council didn't plan to create extra places.

But the working group's original ideas (which it is rethinking - and which the council should now disown), would also have made many other problems far worse and would have meant:

* Breaking the links between schools and their local communities;

* Greatly increasing school-run traffic across the city;

* Far fewer students walking to school;

* Far fewer students taking part in after-school activities, such as sports;

* More truanting because many more students would go to school via the city centre and the seafront, with their inherent temptations, including games arcades and shops.

The working group over-represented areas demanding changes and many parents were not consulted until the last month in the consultation period.

Not surprisingly, the result was a fantasy which pretended two popular schools had moved to imaginary locations.

Those wanting changes say parents in the north of the city can choose between schools.

That is not true for most of us but, in any case, all our children want is one place each at a local school instead of them being reserved for those pupils from miles away.

The working group's plans would have affected most parents in the city, not just those wanting their children to go Blatchington Mill and Dorothy Stringer. The effect of "moving" these schools would have rippled out across most of the city.

The duty of the council is to now make sure there are enough places at the schools which parents are happy for their children to attend.

Otherwise, this issue will not go away.

-James Simister, Blatchington and Stringer Action Group