Price freeze is agreed for school meals

AN EXCLUSIVE headland on the Llŷn Peninsula has been dubbed “Sandbanks of the North” after the world’s most expensive coastal strip on England’s south coast.

The Benar Headland in Abersoch has always been one of THE price of school meals will be frozen in Gwynedd after councillors admitted concerns that they are now being served to fewer than half of primary pupils.

A report presented to the council cabinet sought permission to keep the daily price at £2.50 a day despite warning that scrapping the planned 10p increase would cost the authority more than £82,000.

The authority’s head of education told members that the current cost in Gwynedd is already among the most expensive in Wales – matched only by Cardiff, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

He added that there had been a pattern of fewer children taking up school meals following price the priciest parts of North Wales – with even £1m probably not enough to secure a home.

But estate agents say it has become even more popular in recent years with demand to live on the headland rocketing.

In 2017 one man spent £2.2m on rises, warning that a further hike would likely see a further fall from the current 46% figure.

The council leader, Councillor Dyfrig Siencyn, conceded that another 10p a day would have an effect on many families.

Councillor Catrin Wager raised concern over child poverty and that many working families on low incomes were struggling to pay as working tax credits do not equate to free school meals.

“I think it’s important that we, as a council, do all we can to support these families by keeping the cost down as low as possible as it’s important that they have access to school meals,” she added.

The head of finance confirmed the authority had set aside money when a house just to knock it down and build a large modern property.

Property agents now say it is matching the exclusive Sandbanks area of Poole in Dorset which is classed as the world’s most expensive coastal street.

This has raised issues about the it became apparent that the expected income from the last school meal hike in 2017 would not be realised.

Councillor Gareth Thomas said that he was alarmed that the take-up had fallen under 50% but saw a price freeze as the “sensible thing to do.”

Councillor Ioan Thomas added: “This is a fine example of a department looking to generate income but we need to be mindful that it can sometimes have the opposite effect.”

In response, the head of education accepted that the authority may need to look at “more holistic” approaches in future.

The report was approved unanimously by the cabinet, meaning that the price of school meals will remain at £2.50 from September. wider affordability of homes in the popular coastal and rural areas of north west Wales.

Senior branch manager at Beresford Adams, Martin Lewthwaite, said: “In recent years this small stretch of headland has become one of the most prestigious areas in which to live, fast becoming the ‘Sandbanks of the North’.”

The term came up on the sale of a four-bedroom property on the headland, which is on the market for £1.75m with Beresford Adams and Savills.