Proposals for new Welsh medium school move forward

PROPOSALS for a new school for Swansea’s YGG Lon-Las are continuing to move forward.

Swansea Council has submitted a planning application for a new school building to house the Llansamlet Welsh Medium primary school, which has more than 500 pupils.

At the same time a planning application is going in for a temporary home for the school on part of the YG Y Cwm site where facilities will be provided to cater for all Lon-Las pupils while their new school is being built

The project is all part of Swansea Council’s QEd 21st Century Schools programme which aims to invest tens of millions of pounds in improving school facilities across the city.

Already thousands of pupils at city schools have benefited from the programme which has seen building replacements and upgrades at Morriston Comprehensive, and new classrooms at Newton and Glyncollen.

Pupils of Burlais Primary School are moving out of Victorian buildings this summer and moving into a 21st century school in September, while work is currently well underway for a new English medium school for Gowerton Primary.

Cllr Jen Raynor, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, said: “Pupil attainment is a top priority for the council and all the evidence shows that an improved school environment promotes progress in learning.

“YGG Lon-las is in great need of improvement. The current buildings are old, in poor condition and are unsuitable for the age range of pupils being educated there. Consequently they are also increasingly expensive to maintain.

“By contrast, significant investment into the proposed new school would provide high quality teaching and learning facilities necessary to meet the expectations of pupils and staff in a 21st Century school.

“We are also building into the scheme measures which will ensure the investment will bring community benefits including employment and training opportunities.”

Under the council’s programme the current buildings at YGG Lon-Las will be demolished and a new school built on the same site.

Over the summer the local authority and other contractors will continue to carry out the necessary surveys required to accompany the planning applications for both the new school at Walters Road and the temporary school in Bonymaen.

Once all surveys are complete, the project will be subject to agreement with the Welsh Government because they’d fund 50 per cent, with Swansea Council funding the rest.

Updates on the project will be provided through newsletters and posted on the Council website at: http://www.swansea.gov.uk/newygglonlasbuild