THE prospect of 20 per cent of school places being empty in South Gloucestershire within two years should not be a cause for panic, even though that amounts to three secondary schools.
Populations and the demand for school places do rise and fall as a matter of course.
The important thing to avoid is a knee-jerk reaction which can lead to schools being made smaller or even closing.
Bristol went through a period of doing this some years ago.
However the crucial thing with education is to plan ahead, sometimes many years ahead.
In South Gloucestershire's case it means holding its nerve until 2019 when it is expected that the demand for secondary places will again increase.
Otherwise authorities, like South Gloucestershire, are going to be playing catch-up with an ever changing population.
And the danger is that they never do catch up.
Consequently decisions are always out of step with changing trends.
Ironically any development of Filton airfield may well help to solve the problem by bringing thousands more families into the area.
It could be one of the only benefits of closing the airfield and turning it over to housing.