Consultation over rural school closure extended

Elgan Hearn Local Democracy Reporter

A consultation on a proposal to close a rural primary school has been extended by another seven weeks, it has been revealed.

In July, Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet agreed to start the legal process to close Gladestry Church in Wales Primary School at the end of August 2027.

A consultation started in September and was set to end last Monday, October 26, but has now been extended until December 14.

On the Powys County Council website, the council said: “The consultation period had been extended and will end on December 14.

“This was so that additional financial information could be included in the consultation document.”

The council said an updated consultation document had also been published.

When the decision was taken to start the closure process in July, education chiefs said that each pupil at Gladestry costs £7,696 a year to teach, compared with the Powys average of £5,461, and that a total saving of £43,000 would be made next year if the school closed.

However, after that, the closure would lead to a £12,000 loss due to transport and catering costs if all the children went to another Powys primary school.

The ultimate decision on whether to close the school will now rest with the full council, as the cabinet has lost its power to make the decision.

From now on, the cabinet will only be able to recommend to the council whether a school should be closed.

At a council meeting earlier this month, a motion that the final decision on any school closure should be made at a full council meeting, rather than by the cabinet, was agreed by a clear majority of councillors.

The proposal was put forward by Cllr Ed Jones (Powys Independents), who represents the Old Radnor ward, which includes Gladestry, and opposes the school closure.

Head of Legal Services and Monitoring Officer Debby Jones will need to amend the constitution to reflect the changes and take the amendments to the Democratic Services Committee for approval before they can be brought back to the full council to be formally approved.

It was confirmed at the council meeting on October 8 that the change in decision-makers would be backdated to take effect from that date onwards.