Plans for new Welsh medium school in south Wales

Anthony Lewis – Local democracy reporter

A new Welsh medium school is set to be built to serve a major development in the south Wales valleys.

To meet the demand for school places in future years, the plan is to establish a new Welsh medium primary school for 3 to 11-year-olds as part of the Llanilid housing development in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) and change Dolau Primary School from dual language to English medium.

RCT’s cabinet gave its backing for the proposals at a meeting on Wednesday, February 19.

The new Welsh medium primary school will open no later than the 2027 academic year with a capacity for 480 statutory school age pupils plus 60 for nursery age pupils.

Dolau Primary School will become an English medium primary school at the same time with an increased capacity of 488 plus 63 nursery places.

Open space

In January, 2016, RCT’s planning committee approved outline planning consent  for the construction of 1,850 new houses, retail floor space, a medical centre, a library/community facility, a new primary school and associated public open space on land at the former open cast coal site in Llanharan.

Written responses to the consultation on the proposals saw 50 of the 99 people who responded being in favour of the proposal, 37 against it, 10 unsure and two not answering.

The capital cost of the new Welsh medium school will be met through the
Community Infrastructure Levy from the development of the Llanilid site and through funding from the Welsh Government Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

Budget

The small-scale spend for any adaptations needed at Dolau Primary School will be met from RCT’s core capital budget.

Any revenue spend resulting from the new Welsh medium primary
school, including the school’s delegated budget and any potential increase in
home to school transport costs will be identified as the proposal develops, the report said.

A financial update on the proposal is to be included in a future treasury management report to council.

Councillor Rhys Lewis, cabinet member for education, highlighted that no statutory objections had been received on this “extremely exciting and ambitious” project.

He said he was sure a new school in what effectively was a brand new community would be welcomed.

He said they’re building in capacity for growth in the future which aligns with the council’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.