‘Seven-year wait’ for new school

PLANS for a new secondary school in north Cardiff should be announced later this year – but it may not be built until after 2025.

Work is underway to build thousands of homes in Pontprennau, Old St Mellons and Lisvane, as part of a Cardiff-wide strategy to provide 41,400 new houses across the city.

Cardiff council was asked when a new secondary school will be opened for the new families moving into the city.

Deputy leader of the council, Sarah Merry, said a planning application for the new school is expected by the end of the year, but it may not be built for at least another seven years.

Dr Alexandra Phillips, on behalf of residents, in a written question to Cllr Merry, said: “The residents of Cardiff North need reassurance that Cardiff Council is not just building houses, but is building a cohesive and inclusive community, in line with the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

“The extensive housing development in the Pontprennau, Old St. Mellons and Lisvane area, comprising over 5,000 family homes, began in 2016.

“When will the council be opening the secondary school promised in the Local Development Plan to cope with demand?”

Pupils living in the catchment area of Pontprennau Primary School fall within the catchment areas of Llanishen High and Ysgol Glantaf.

And pupils who will be living in the new and proposed housing developments nearby would fall within the catchment areas of Llanishen High or Eastern High, and Ysgol Glantaf or Ysgol Bro Edern.

Cllr Merry, who is Cardiff council’s cabinet member for education, told the meeting that each of these schools were able to admit all on-time applicants who live within their catchment area this year.

She said: “In 2022, the pupils in the catchment area of Pontprennau Primary School will still be able to attend these in-catchment schools.

“A planning application for the future housing development, within which a new secondary school would be located, is expected to be submitted by developers later this year.”

She added council officials are working with developers and monitoring the build rate of the houses, and interim proposals will be drawn up to make sure there are sufficient Englishmedium and Welsh-medium places to serve existing and new housing.

Dr Phillips asked for a more specific time frame for the new secondary school.

She said: “When will the residents of Cardiff north be told, and in what manner will they be told?

“There is a great deal of deal of concern bearing in mind Pontprennau Primary is already the most oversubscribed primary school in Cardiff.”

Cllr Merry said she understood the concerns of parents but as the school would be built under section 106 funding – contributions by the developers – it was difficult to give a timescale for the school.

She said: “If I had more specific dates I would provide them.

“What I have been told is the new secondary school is most likely to be established after 2025 but that’s not a definite date.

“We are bound by developers and predicted demand for school places. We aren’t building schools directly as such, and supplying capital as such.

“That makes it much more difficult to give you a precise date.”