COUNCIL chiefs in Carmarthenshire want a clearer understanding of costs before deciding to build a much-needed replacement special school in Llanelli.
Cabinet proposed two options to replace Ysgol Heol Goffa at a meeting on June 16: a 150-place school, along with a primary and secondary specialist centre for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions which would be attached to mainstream schools; or a new 250-place school which would include provision for pupils with autistic spectrum conditions.
Estimates for the 150-place option with specialist centres currently range from £42.2 million to £58.1 million; estimates for the 250-place option range from £36.2 million to £51.2 million. The Welsh Government would fund the majority of the costs.
Campaigners who staged protests when the council shelved original plans for a new Ysgol Heol Goffa at the former Draka copperworks site on cost grounds want a decision as quickly as possible.
Plaid cabinet member for education and Welsh language, Cllr Glynog Davies, said more work on design feasibility and costs were needed to enable the council to come to the correct decision – and he said he wanted that information “as soon as possible”.
Speaking after the cabinet meeting, Labour opposition leader, Cllr Deryk Cundy, accused the Plaid-Independent administration of further delays and said its decision was “a kick in the teeth for the parents”.
Cllr Davies said both of the two options being explored would be an improvement on the originally planned replacement Heol Goffa. Cabinet also decided to discount four of the six options that had been put to it by an independent expert who had reviewed the provision of specialist education in the area.
“We were quite fortunate that we did have a review,” said Cllr Davies.
Cllr Alun Lenny, cabinet member for resources, said the costs of both options being explored were “truly eye-watering” but that he and his colleagues were determined to get the best outcome for young people with additional learning needs. He said Ysgol Heol Goffa was “treasured” by staff, pupils and the wider community, but added: “We must exercise due diligence in these days of huge financial pressure.”
The cabinet report said the current £3.45 million per year operating budget for Ysgol Heol Goffa, which has 120 places, would increase with a bigger replacement.
Head teacher Ceri Hopkins had written to the council to say the 250-place replacement option was the school’s preferred one because it would, among other things, reduce disruption for pupils and help preserve a family ethos.
This was also the preferred option of campaign group Ysgol Heol Goffa Action Committee. It called for work to progress urgently as the current school had a long pupil waiting list.
“Time is of the essence here; parents do not want to be waiting another five years plus, for the new school,” said its letter to the council. “We agree that the school can be delivered in a more cost-effective manner, while also increasing pupil capacity to address the ever-growing need.”
Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith and MS Lee Waters also wrote to the council asking it to press ahead with the 250-place option, adding that the old copperworks site retained distinct advantages as the location. They said costs could be cut by obtaining a quote from more than one contractor, as had happened with the proposed new school that was abandoned, by leaving out a hydrotherapy pool as one was being built at the nearby Pentre Awel health and research development, and by focusing on pupil’s practical needs rather than “architectural flourish”.
Cllr Cundy said the administration “just can’t seem to make a decision” about pressing ahead with a new school. He said: “It’s a kick in the teeth for the parents. All the time they are delaying the prices for building a new school are going up and up.”
Llanelli town councillor Shaun Greaney, who represents the ward Ysgol Heol Goffa is in, said he was worried what would happen if things weren’t set in stone by the time of next May’s Senedd elections. “If there’s a change of power and nothing has been finalised for a new school it could spell disaster if other parties take a different position on funding,” he said.
During the meeting Cllr Lenny said consideration had to be given to parents elsewhere who wanted replacement schools in their area, given that there was a finite pot of funding. He said a new Ysgol Dewi Sant should have opened in Llanelli years ago “had it not been for intervention from local Labour politicians”.
