New children’s play area a priority in Gorseinon school replacement plan

Parents of pupils at Gorseinon Primary School have urged the council to build a new school for the children of their community as quickly as possible.

More than 100 residents turned up for a public meeting on Wednesday to hear about the plans to solve the problems of a school which currently operates on three sites and in buildings more than 100 years old.

Council Leader Rob Stewart revealed to parents that a planning application for a new school at Parc y Werin is due to be submitted before the end of October.

And he pledged that if the application is approved the commitment to rejuvenate play facilities for children in the park would be honoured and be completed before a new school is opened.

After the meeting he said: “We have a small window of opportunity to transform education for the children of Gorseinon. We want to deliver a fantastic 21st century state-of-the-art school for the children of Gorseinon to use for years to come.

“I acknowledge there is opposition to the siting of the school in Parc y Werin, but we have examined all options and this is the only viable option.

“When the school is built the building will occupy just over 10% of the park. There will still be a large and revitalised park, play and open space areas.”

He added: “Families will still be able to use the park, footballers will still be able to play football and children, for the first time, will be able to enjoy education facilities fit for the 21 century.

“If it’s not built now, we will almost certainly lose Welsh Government finance with no certainty of a second chance at some point in the future and we will need to start the search for a school site again.

“These are just the facts. Parc y Werin has been labelled ‘The People’s Park’. We are protecting it for future generations. Children are people too and it’s their education and their futures which will be impacted if the school does not go ahead.”

The meeting was given a presentation which took them through the work the council has done so far, giving reasons why Parc y Werin was preferred to other potential sites.

A question and answer session looked at a range of subjects including finance, traffic, other potential sites and what would happen if work on the school did not start in this financial year.

Resident Kenneth John said he believed it would be remiss of the community to turn down the opportunity for a new school. He added:  “These children deserve it. Let’s for goodness sake get the new school built and move on.”

Jen Raynor, Cabinet Member for Education, who was also at the meeting, told parents education is one of the council’s top priorities.

She said: “A new Gorseinon Primary School is much-deserved and badly needed. Teachers and staff working on the current sites are doing a brilliant job in buildings which everyone agrees are not fit for the 21 century.

“Currently children aged four to eight in the infant section have no on-site access to green space, staff have to put out buckets in the corridor when it rains and a wall has been held up by a temporary wooden buttress for more than a decade.

“A new school will transform educational opportunities for the children of Gorseinon, giving them access to facilities pupils in Penyrheol have taken for granted for years.”

To see the presentation and other information about the plans go to http://www.swansea.gov.uk/gorseinonprimaryproject