Council warned it is in for "long fight" over school closure

Llanfihangel Rhydithon Community Primary School, in the tiny Radnorshire community of Dolau, is one of a clutch of primary schools Powys County Council (PCC) would like to close to reduce costs – it is believed it would save £59,000 by closing the 37-pupil village school, near Llandrindod Wells.

The council’s cabinet last week agreed to continue with the closure proposal by publishing a statutory notice formally proposing it be shut. If approved – the proposal is subject to a review by the Welsh Government, as well as a legal challenge from the community – the 170-year-old school would likely shut on August 31 next year.

Those who are fighting to keep the village school open described last week’s decision by PCC’s cabinet as “another nail in the coffin” of rural communities, but question the legality and sense of such a decision. The council received 430 responses alone from concerned members of the community opposing the closure during an earlier consultation period this year, while even the council’s own scrutiny committee said the criteria for closure had not been met.

“Under the auspice of school transformation, rudderless Powys educational officials have been allowed to run feral through the county, spreading untruths and misinformation in order to push through their predetermined agenda of closing small rural schools,” read a statement from the Dolau School Action Group.

“They have shown an arrogance and a blatant disregard for the communities which they serve.

“Six cabinet members from Breconshire and Montgomeryshire believed the school had met the criteria for closure, with the remaining two Radnorshire councillors deciding to abstain; a decision for which they are complicit.

“The council’s own scrutiny committee meeting agreed that the criteria for closure had not been met, however the cabinet chose to ignore this and went ahead with statutory notice to close.

“A decision which has very much angered not only the local community but the local MP Fay Jones, MS James Evans and MS Jane Dodds who all attended a Dolau School Action Group meeting last week, and agreed a cross-party political approach to save the school.

“The decision to close will now be reviewed by the Welsh Senedd, alongside a legal challenge from the community. The fight to keep Llanfihangel Rhydithon open is gathering momentum, with Powys cabinet and its officials in for a long, long fight.”

Pupils at Llanfihangel Rhydithon Community Primary School in Dolau

Education portfolio holder, Councillor Phyl Davies, said: “These are very emotive and difficult decisions, we have been criticised by the regulator (Estyn) but part of the problem is we’re spreading our money and support too thinly within our schools.

“We should be spending our money on education, not bricks and mortar.”

Welsh and adult services portfolio holder, Cllr Myfanwy Alexander, had previously described alternative propositions – such as federating with Llanelwedd Church in Wales Primary School, and possibly becoming a faith school, or becoming a dual stream and eventually a Welsh medium primary school – as “not showing any profound understanding of the way in which Welsh language education works”.

She explained that if Llanfihangel Rhydithon became dual stream it would effectively need to have two sets of staff in one building, which would lead to “astronomical” costs.

She also pointed out that there weren’t enough Welsh speaking teachers in either the Powys primary or secondary school sectors to justify a small school to receive a “scarce resource to benefit a small number of pupils”.

The council has already decided to press ahead with the closure of 200-year-old Castle Caereinion school, near Llanfair Caereinion, which has 25 pupils. The future of Llanbedr Primary School, just north of Crickhowell, and seven other schools – whose pupil populations range from 23 to 109 – are also in doubt.