Town Welsh school ‘dream’ advances

PLANS for a new Welshmedium school in a South Wales seaside town have moved one step closer this week after councillors approved £370,000 worth of funding for design and survey costs.

Bridgend County Council bosses attending the local authority’s latest cabinet meeting have approved a capital budget for the proposed Porthcawl Welshmedium school’s design and survey costs up to tender stage to be included in the council’s capital programme.

Bridgend County Council will now have to pay these costs, currently estimated to be around £370,000 for the upfront designs and survey needed, in order to develop the scheme to tender stage to meet the Welsh Government business justification.

However, this would be done on the basis that the costs will be fully recovered once the Welsh Government has approved the business justification case.

Despite a business justification case being submitted to the Welsh Government for approval in May, the local authority has recently been advised that it needs to be resubmitted once tenders relating to the scheme have been returned.

The Welsh-medium capital grant commits the Welsh Government to 100% of the funding upon approval of the business case.

It means, however, that in the meantime the council would have to accept the risk that should the Welsh Government fail to approve the business case, the design and survey costs up to tender stage would need to be funded by the council.

This latest approval from the council means the Welshmedium

seedling school can now move one step closer in the Porthcawl area, with council leader Huw David saying it had been the dream of many Welsh-speaking people who live there.

He said: “As a Wels- language champion I certainly welcome this proposal.

“I know that it has been – and I think this is no exaggeration to say for many in the Welsh-language community in Porthcawl – a dream of theirs, and an ambition that we open our first ever Welsh-medium primary school within that town, and of course this is a huge step forward in achieving that dream.

“We are very very grateful that the Welsh Government are commited to providing 100% funding for this scheme.

“We are confident that we will secure that funding back and make progress on this project.”