New special school for 150 pupils approved

 Richard Youle, local democracy reporter

Plans to build a new special school with 150 places in Llanelli have finally been approved.

Carmarthenshire Council chiefs had been considering either a 150-place replacement Ysgol Heol Goffa for pupils with severe learning difficulties and profound learning difficulties, or a 250-place option which would have also catered for children with autistic spectrum conditions.

At a meeting on July 31 cabinet approved the 150-place option, which at this stage is expected to cost £27.5 million to £34.8 million.

There are still hurdles to clear. The council will need to submit business cases to the Welsh Government for approval and also secure planning permission. Further design and feasibility work will also be required.

Assurances

And campaigners are seeking assurances about sufficient places for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions being made available in the area, with one saying: “The fight is not over.”

That’s because the option agreed by cabinet had said that new specialist centres for children with autistic spectrum conditions should be developed at a mainstream primary school and a mainstream secondary in the area in addition to the new Ysgol Heol Goffa.

But the report before cabinet on July 31 said these two units would not be required because work was already underway to meet this particular demand.

Cllr Glynog Davies, cabinet member for education and Welsh language, said the chairman of Ysgol Heol Goffa’s governing body had emailed the council earlier this month to say it favoured the option that went on to be agreed at the July 31 meeting.

“That was excellent news for us,” said Cllr Davies of the governor chairman’s email. He added that he had come to the same conclusion.

“It is a good plan, a plan that will meet the demand, and it’s a plan that we will be able to realise,” said Cllr Davies.

Specialist centres 

Llanelli councillor Rob James, who represents the Lliedi ward in which over-subscribed Ysgol Heol Goffa is located, addressed the meeting to say he welcomed the decision.

But he said some people were concerned it now felt like the two additional specialist centres for children with autistic spectrum conditions would not be going ahead, and he sought assurances that demand was made available and asked how many spaces there would be.

In reply, Cllr Davies said meeting this autistic spectrum condition demand in the Llanelli area had been underway since before the Covid pandemic and that there were places co-located at Burry Port Community Primary School and Ysgol Penygaer, Llanelli. There were also places for pupils with severe learning difficulties, he said, based at Ysgol y Felin, Llanelli.

Turning to secondary education, Cllr Davies said the intention was to increase places for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions which were currently available in Burry Port at Canolfan y Mor, which is co-located with Ysgol Glan-y-Mor. “The new provision will be in place from September, 2025,” he said.

The Plaid-Independent-run council came under fire last year when it scrapped an original plan for a new Ysgol Heol Goffa due to rising costs, but cabinet members have since argued that it would have been full to capacity on the day it opened.

Protests

The shelving of the plan sparked protests and petitions, and was followed by an independent review of additional learning need provision in the Llanelli area. That review resulted in a shortlist of six options, four of which were subsequently discounted.

Cllr Alun Lenny, cabinet member for resources, said the new school that had now been agreed was a significant investment in special education and that funds to meet other schools’ needs were “very limited”.

Plaid council leader, Cllr Darren Price, thanked Ysgol Heol Goffa and local councillors for their contributions and said the authority would make sure the demand for autistic spectrum condition places was met at other sites.

Rebecca Davies, vice-chairwoman of Save Ysgol Heol Goffa action committee, had mixed feelings about what was decided, pointing out that the approved option had said that two new specialist centres for children with autistic spectrum conditions should also be developed.

She said the autism provision at other sites in the area mentioned at cabinet had been considered by the author of the independent review, and that he still had recommended the two extra units.

“The fight is not over until we get adequate provision for children with autism as well,” she said.

But she welcomed a new Ysgol Heol Goffa. “We are grateful the new school is coming because it is desperately needed,” she said.