David Hughes has written an open letter to Denbighshire Education Authority and others, in which he questions key aspects of the consultation report by Cambridge Education as well as lambasting the timing and organisation of the consultation process by Denbighshire County Council.

With the deadline for a decision now just over a month away, there are still apparently no firm dates forthcoming from the County for the promised public meetings.

David was back in Rhyl last week to launch his first novel, entitled “The Reso”.

Using his writer’s name Ambrose Conway, he takes us on a journey to the town’s infamous council estate in the 1960s to explore the universal themes of the rites of passage and the moral obligations of growing up.

As “The Reso”'s central character David finds himself caught at times between the clear moral lead in his home and an alternative morality on the Reso estate where the greatest moral obligation is never, under any circumstances, to grass anyone up.

David acknowledges the huge level of support he was given by his teachers during his time in Rhyl High School sixth form in the 1970s and the fact that he was able to progress to the University of York was partly due to the excellence of teaching and pastoral support he received.

From his career in education he is ideally placed to appreciate how difficult it is to raise aspiration and achievement in young people and he fervently believes the continuity represented by a sixth form in any school is most likely to encourage learners to continue their studies beyond sixteen.

“There seems to be an air of optimism in Rhyl at present about the ambitious re-development plans but this is being matched by dismay about the plans to abandon sixth form provision in the town.