The closure of three Powys schools is set to be delayed by a year after a legal challenge was mounted.
Just before Christmas 2021 the decision to close Cradoc, Mount Street Junior and Mount Street Infant and Nursery school in Brecon was taken by Powys County Council’s Independent/Conservative cabinet – which lost power in May.
The change was due to be implemented in the summer of 2023.
But now, in a letter to staff, governors and parents of the schools, director of education, Lynette Lovell has confirmed the delay.
Ms Lovett said: “A request has been submitted to the courts for a judicial review of the council’s decision to merge the three schools.
“Although this was submitted to the courts in April, the request has not yet been considered.
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“Until this legal process has been concluded, it will not be possible for the council to proceed with some of the essential aspects which need to be carried out to implement the proposal, in particular appointing a headteacher and other staff to the new school.
“This means that there will not be enough time to complete all of the activities needed to enable the new school to open on September 1, 2023.
“Because of this, we are suggesting the proposal should be delayed by 12 months to September 1, 2024.
“This would enable the necessary arrangements to be made to implement the decision once the legal processes have been concluded."
According to Ms Lovell the delay is set to be discussed by the Powys County Council cabinet at a meeting later this month.
Ms Lovell said: “I appreciate that this will cause further uncertainty for the three school communities, however I hope you will understand that the need to delay implementation of the proposal is beyond our control.”
Cllr Iain McIntosh has been campaigning against the merger so that Cradoc Primary School can be kept open – he sensationally quit the cabinet live on air last year as a protest against the closure.
Cllr Iain McIntosh said: “Parents, teachers, staff and children associated with Cradoc school will be pleased to hear the school will stay in place for at least another year, but the further uncertainty is a great concern for all involved.
“Clearly the council have no option other than delaying their proposal due to the judicial review process."
Cllr McIntosh claims that there are no guarantees that the funding for the new school building in Brecon will be found and would rather see a replacement for Cradoc school built.
He claims this would be “cheaper.”
Cllr McIntosh said: “I’ll continue trying to persuade Powys County Council and the new administration to do that.”
The first phase of the merger would have seen all three schools merged by August 31 – 2023 under one governing body and teaching management team< but operating from three sites.
The second phase is to have a new 360 place school built on the former Brecon High School site by 2025/26 – with the three school sites closed.
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