PLANS for the new Accrington Academy have moved a step forward.

An official consultation into the proposal to close down Accrington Moorhead Sports College and replace it with a privately run academy will begin this month.

Since the plans were announced earlier this year Lancashire County Council (LCC), the education authority for Hyndburn, has been in discussions with stakeholders including Moorhead College, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Partnership for Schools (PfS) and United Learning Trust (ULT), the charity organisation recently revealed as the academy's largest sponsor, with a £1.5million investment.

Following the discussions, cabinet member for schools County Coun Vali Patel has approved that the plans be taken forward as part of the legally required statutory process.

The proposal up for consultation is to close the Queens Road West college on August 31 2008. For this to happen the DCSF and ULT need to agree to open the new Academy on the Moorhead site on September 1 2008.

The consultation period will end in December, after which Coun Patel will decide whether to go ahead and publish public notices.

Once notices are approved, there will be a six week period for the public to make any objections or comments. A final decision would be expected from the county council in late February.

The academy will have 1,150 places including 250 at sixth form, making it the only major A-level centre in Hyndburn.

Academies have sparked major controversy nationwide due to the fact they are privately run but mostly state funded.

Union chiefs have expressed concerns over several issues, including the loss of local democratic control, and implications for the curriculum.

But county council says that an academy will increase diversity in the area and build on Moorhead's improvements in recent years. Headteacher Andrew Bateman is also behind the academy, which he said will "provide world class learning facilities".