Plans advance to relocate RAAC blighted school to new £66 million building 

Dale Spridgeon, local democracy reporter

The next step in plan to relocate a school blighted by the RAAC crumbling concrete crisis into a new building has been approved.

Anglesey County Council has agreed to proceed with plans to relocate Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi in Holyhead to a new £66m school building.

As part of the statutory process, councillors considered an “objection report”, which will now be submitted to Welsh ministers for a final decision before the relocation begins.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, January 6 the council’s executive also authorised officers to issue notice of the final decision, in a decision letter, following approval of the proposal by Welsh ministers, which is expected in March.

It also agreed to commit to fund the council’s contribution towards the project costs, including transitional costs incurred from 2025/26 onwards.

The ageing school was one of the first hit during the RAAC concrete crisis in 2023, and has needed costly maintenance to keep it running.

The council had considered options for the school, eventually proposing relocating pupils to a newly built school, the favoured site on land near Holyhead Leisure Centre.

Public views had been sought and had shown 79% were in favour with 21% against relocation.

Following a statutory consultation, a total of 1,023 responses via an online response form were received, the majority from parents and guardians, local residents, learners and pupils.

The executive had considered the objection report, which highlighted public comments and council responses.

Road safety concerns

Among public comments raised was that the proposed new school was “far out of town” and concerns over road safety, community impact, carbon emissions, and loss of the old school and its “significant” local history.

Among its reponses, the council had described how it had undertaken a “detailed options appraisal”.

The presence of RAAC was highlighted and it was noted that the current safety mitigations were “only medium-term solutions”.

The report also described the aged school’s “Grade C” rating as “operational but major repair or replacement needed in the short to medium term” with the current and projected future maintenance spend estimated at £28,985,743.

The school building was also in the council’s “top 10 buildings in terms of high carbon emissions” whilst the new building was described as being net zero “once in operation”.

The estimated cost of the proposal would be £66million, the majority funded through a Mutual Investment Model.

The council’s estimated contribution towards annual service costs for 25 years, from the date of opening the new school building (September 2030) was estimated at £1,238,218.

This was “considered affordable,” a report stated, and would be budgeted for from 2030/31 onwards.

“There would also be some costs (£5.163m) not eligible to be funded through the Mutual Investment Model and will be treated as a capital scheme,” the report said.

“The Welsh Government grant intervention rate for these costs is 65%. The remaining 35% (£1.8m) will be funded from Capital Receipts from the sale of the existing site, and through unsupported borrowing.”

No longevity

Deputy leader, Cllr Robin Wyn Williams added: “I think it is important to emphasise that one of the biggest reasons to progress with this plan was because of the problems with the structure with RAAC, we know there is no longevity to that building as it stands.

“The only feasible answer is that we have to look for another building in Holyhead and this is the most appropriate site.”

He added that the responses in the objection report were “very comprehensive”.

Cllr Carwyn Jones was also “happy” with responses. He noted that of 1203 comments received, much of what had been said by the public was “very positive”.

What had “filled his heart” were the responses from youngsters commenting over “the future of their own education in Holyhead”.

Council leader, Cllr Gary Pritchard added the extraordinary meeting had been “short, but a very important step forward in the statutory process to ensure that the learners of Ysgol Uwchradd Caergybi could have a new building in the town”.