COUNCILLORS have demanded an overall plan for education in Newtown, amid calls to improve the state of buildings at a school that was excluded from a merger.
At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Learning and Skills scrutiny committee on Tuesday, October 17, members looked at the proposal for Newtown which would see two schools eventually merge.
The council had already proposed a new school building for Ysgol Calon y Dderwen which was created following the merger of Ladywell Green Infants School and Hafren Junior School in 2021.
Now it has confirmed its intention to merge Ysgol Calon y Dderwen and nearby Treowen primary school from September 2025 in a move intended to remedy surplus spaces in Newtown.
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Conservative Cllr Lucy Roberts said: “It concerns me that we’re chipping away at different areas and don’t seem to have a plan for the town as a whole – it would be better if we could address it all in one go.
“My next question is on the wellbeing campus and the security we have or not, knowing that is going ahead – and what would happen if the rest of it (wellbeing programme) didn’t go ahead?"
Schools transformation manager Marianne Evans said: “The problem we have in Newtown is that we don’t have land available to build schools on – so it has to happen on a phased basis, and this is the starting point.
“The other issue we have is the fact we do have a number of different types of schools, English speaking schools, Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd which is a Welsh medium school, St Mary’s the county’s only Catholic school.
“In terms of the wellbeing campus – all I can say is that we are working closely with the health board and have a cohesive critical path for the school and the campus and are working on an integrated masterplan.”
Maesyrhandir primary school had initally been included in the merger – but has now been discounted.
Conservative group leader Cllr Aled Davies said that the condition of the Maesyrhandir primary school building “is not great.”
Cllr Davies said: “They deserve equally good facilities for their education – if this goes ahead it’s hard to know what will happen to Maesyrhandir."
Education portfolio holder, Liberal Democrat Cllr Pete Roberts said: “Maesyrhandir is a concern there will need to be additional investment in the building.
“One thing I would highlight is that it is building up contacts with Ysgol Cedewain (special school) with a view with sharing and taking advantage of some of the facilities in that school.
“It’s not completely on its own.”
He added that this had been a “factor” in deciding which of the primary schools was a better fit with Ysgol Calon y Dderwen.
Detailed recommendations from the committee will accompany an updated report on the proposal which will go in front of senior councillors at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, October 24 for a decision.
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