Row over city's new Welsh primary

16 February 2006 - BBC Wales Website

Welsh-medium primary school pupils in the west of Swansea who are currently taught in a old canteen block may have new classrooms within two years.

Plans for a permanent home are to be submitted to the council next week.

When Ysgol Gynradd Llwynderw opened in an old school canteen in Sketty the accommodation was to be temporary.

The new school would be three miles away in West Cross, but some residents there oppose the move as there are already two other schools at that site.

They say there are major traffic problems caused by Grange Primary and St David's Catholic Primary, both on West Cross Avenue.

The new Welsh school would be on an adjoining site.

West Cross councillor Desmond Thomas said: "There is an amazing amount of opposition.

"I saw the plans on Tuesday and there is no doubt they are very impressive but people feel it's on the wrong site.

"There would be three primary schools on the same street. A lot of the pupils at the Welsh school would have to be bussed in or driven by their parents as they are scattered about.

"It will add to the serious traffic problems that already exist."

Ysgol Gynradd Llwynderw was opened in the old canteen block at Bishop Gore Comprehensive School in response to demand for a Welsh-medium primary for the west of the city.

Swansea Council's director of education Richard Parry said there was extensive consultation last summer and a traffic management plan would address residents' concerns.

"YGG Llwynderw has waited a very long time for this permanent replacement school.

"A lot of effort has gone into ensuring that the new school will fit well into its community and the proposed traffic management system is designed to make life easier on the school run, whichever school the pupils go to."

The Welsh Assembly Government has the final say on the overall concept of closing the current Ysgol Gynradd Llwynderw site and moving to a new build.

"If (the assembly government) does approve and planning councillors agree the application they see, then it means that we can expect children will move into the new school by September 2008," said Mr Parry.

In 2004 the education authority dropped plans to shut Mayals Primary School and relocate the Welsh-medium school there in the face of protests from parents.

NEW SCHOOL PLAN MOVES FORWARD DESPITE PROTESTS

16 February 2006

Controversial plans to build a new Welsh medium school in West Cross are finally being submitted to Swansea Council next week. Proposals to create a permanent site for Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llwynderw have been plagued by criticism since first being put forward.

The new school would take the place of the West Cross Children's Home in West Cross Avenue, which in turn is moving to a new £1 million state-of-the-art home in Milford Way, Blaenymaes.

But residents in West Cross have criticised the plan, amid fears it will lead to heavier traffic at the site.

The Welsh school has been temporarily housed in Bishop Gore comprehensive in Sketty for the last three years, while looking for a new base.If the latest application is approved by councillors, pupils will be able to move into the new school by 2008 - three years later than first planned.

Richard Parry, the council's education director, insisted the fears of people living nearby had been heeded.

"We listened very carefully to concerns raised about the current problems for the schools in the area," he added.

"A lot of effort has gone into ensuring the new school will fit well into its community and the proposed traffic management system is designed to make life easier on the school run, whichever school the pupils go to.

"The traffic management scheme involves calming measures and other proposals that will increase options for pupils and parents to get to school.

"The proposal to close the temporary school on the Bishop Gore site and replace it with a permanent new-build primary school in West Cross was subject to an extensive consultation process last year.

Leaflets are being sent to parents, pupils and residents in the next few days to ask them their views on the application.

A final decision by the Assembly on whether to approve the proposal has not yet been reached.

But Mr Parry said that putting in the planning application now would help speed up the process if the Assembly agrees to the overall project.

"Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Llwynderw has waited a very long time for this permanent replacement school," he added.