‘It looms over us’: Neighbours alarmed at size of new primary school building

The redevelopment of a school has sparked concern among neighbours who fear the new, larger building will lead to a loss of privacy, light and property values.

A new two-storey building will replace the current single-storey classrooms at Plasyfelin Primary School, Caerphilly, in a project its backers say will provide “first-class” educational opportunities for pupils.

But when building work started during a recent half-term break, several residents of neighbouring Morgan Street – including some who objected during the planning process – were alarmed at the scale of the new structure.

They believe the council should have been clearer about plans to increase the ground level below the new school building.

Caerphilly County Borough Council said it is “aware of concerns raised by residents living adjacent to the site and these are currently being looked into”.

Like many of his neighbours, Morgan Street resident Gary Lynch accepted moving near an existing primary school would mean tolerating some noise and disruption during its opening hours.

“We’ve lived here for 12 years [and the school] wasn’t a problem, especially in the garden where you couldn’t see it, but now it looms over us,” he said.

Mr Lynch said he and his wife enjoy using their garden in sunny weather but feel like the new school building dominates the view from their property.

There’s also a clear line of sight between the school’s first floor and one of his home’s bedrooms, he added.

Mr Lynch, who objected to the school proposals during a consultation on the plans, said drawings showed the new building would be on raised ground – but the council “said it would be far enough away that it wasn’t going to be overbearing”.

“I wouldn’t say it’s far away,” he said as he looked onto the construction site. “It’s not as if it’s a two-storey residential building – it’s a large commercial building that’s elevated. It looks directly into our bedrooms.”

A few doors away in Morgan Street, another resident, Jacky Cantello, called the height of the new building “unsettling” and said the council should have been more clear that the ground level would be raised.

“The building is huge,” she said. “It’s only an infants’ school – why couldn’t they have just built it at a lower level?

“We’ve lived here since the houses were built. We accepted there’s a school there, we accepted there’s going to be some yard noise. However, this building now is a different thing [because] of the size, and it extends closer to the properties. It’s more overpowering than what we thought.”

Value

A third Morgan Street resident said neighbours “didn’t realise how tall it was going to be” when the plans were shared during the consultation.

“They built the ground up,” they said. “What we can’t understand is why they haven’t put it on the other side [of the school site].”

Mr Lynch claimed the eastern corner of the primary school site – which backs onto a woodland and Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni – would have been a better place to build.

Both he and Mrs Cantello said they feared the new school building would have an impact on the valuation of their homes.

“We are looking in the not-too-distant future at downsizing and we are concerned about property values,” said Mr Lynch. “We appreciate there’s probably very little that can be done now, but we think the council wasn’t completely open about what would be done.

“I think they’ve just passed it without looking at the concerns and I really don’t know why they haven’t built it on the other site [of the school site].”