THE result of this decision will affect thousands of pupils and parents in the city – and the council must get it absolutely right.

Schools are oversubscribed, some catchment areas are overpopulated while others are underpopulated and the council has the struggle of pulling the jigsaw together. There may be some trepidation at the thought of scrapping the catchment area system – which is one of the options open to councillors – but it could free up the Green administration to develop a more fluid system.

At the moment, councillors have their hands tied by a rigid structure which sometimes results in children being sent to schools miles away from their home despite being able to see a preferred school from their front doorstep.

There will be losers in any situation.

As ever with these decisions, the hope is that common sense prevails.