Flintshire set to get first Welsh medium school new build in more than two decades

Liam Randall, local democracy reporter

Flintshire is set to get its first newly built Welsh medium school in more than two decades as part of a modernisation programme.

Senior councillors will be asked next week to agree to commission a contract to design and construct the new £5.5m facility at Ysgol Croes Atti in Flint.

The project is linked Flintshire Council’s strategy to increase the number of Welsh language speakers in the county and will replace the existing Ysgol Croes Atti building, located on Chester Road in the town.

If given the green light, it would be the first new Welsh medium school built by the local authority since its inception in 1996.

The plans are in addition to a redevelopment scheme already agreed at the school’s other site in Shotton.

Members of the council’s ruling Labour cabinet are also being requested to approve the £2.7m remodelling of Drury County Primary School, near Buckley, where some pupils are currently being taught in mobile classrooms due to capacity issues.

‘Exciting’

The council’s leader and cabinet member for education and youth, Councillor Ian Roberts, said: “Some fantastic work has already been done with Welsh Government support in various areas of the county, for major school projects in Holywell, Shotton, Penyffordd and Connah’s Quay.

“To ensure that that these exciting projects can progress, it is hoped that cabinet will agree these proposals within our onward investment programme for schools.

“This will ensure that work can continue to develop at pace to provide our first new Welsh medium school building since 1996 and significantly improve facilities in Drury Primary School.”

Funding for the projects will be provided via a mixture of council and Welsh Government money.

If approved, it’s expected the construction of the new Ysgol Croes Atti building could begin within the next 12 to 18 months.

Time-scales for Drury Primary School are currently unknown due to what the authority described as “site complexities”.

Cabinet members will meet to discuss the proposals on Tuesday (March 16, 2021).