Plans submitted for new £12.5m Welsh medium primary school in Rhydyfelin
Anthony Lewis, local democracy reporter
Plans have been submitted for a new £12.5m Welsh medium primary school in Rhydyfelin.
The application is for a new school on the site of Heol y Celyn Primary School which is set to shut as part of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s 21st Century Schools plans for Pontypridd.
It would open in September 2024 and is part of a wider £55m school shake up across Pontypridd through the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools and Colleges Programme.
The application design and access statement said that the existing Heol y Celyn school buildings were built during the 1960s and are no longer fit
for purpose with limits on changing or expanding the existing site.
Heol y Celyn is currently a dual language school and will see a change to the catchment area as the new school will also include pupils from Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Pont Sion Norton which is around three miles from Heol y Celyn and is also due to close under the wider plans for Pontypridd’s schools.
The new school would have capacity for 540 pupils aged between 3 and 11 years old and 60 places for the nursery.
The plans also include a new Multi Use Games Area, a new playing field, staff car park and on-site bus drop-off area.
A public consultation session was held in October 2021 at Rhydyfelin Community Centre was attended by around 35 people including
local residents and children from nearby schools, the design and access statement said.
The current school would stay open during construction of the new school with demolition to follow the move to the new building.
The design and access statement said: “The proposed development will significantly enhance the Welsh medium educational facilities for the area, providing a purpose-built, modern building, which will enhance teaching and learning at the site, as well as having potential to become a community facility.
“It is considered that the proposed development takes into account its impact on the site and surrounding area.”
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Welsh must be the first language in wales 🏴 no English Schools in wales 🏴 we in wales have got to stop being little and be proud to be welsh start fighting for your children and grandchildren future in wales 🏴 it’s time for a new wales 🏴
Fantastic news. Da iawn. Bendigedig.
Lifts my heart and soul! Demand for both Welsh medium and Christian very high.
They can’t hold the gates much longer……. YES Cymru!