The council had planned a new £17m building to provide a 132 place bilingual special school provision for children and young people aged between 3 and 20 to replace the current Heol Goffa special school, which the council had previously described as oversubscribed and “outdated”.
After a number of years in the planning, Carmarthenshire Council this week scrapped the plans decribing them as “not financially viable” – a decision local MP, Dame Nia Griffith called the “wrong choice”.
The council has now said it wanted to “provide clarity” on its earlier statement following a local backlash against the cuts.
Carmarthenshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Glynog Davies said: “Following concerns locally, it is essential to provide clarity as to the County Council’s intentions about the future of Heol Goffa School and the provision of ALN education in Llanelli.
“While the Cabinet has decided not to proceed with the planned scheme at the Heol Goffa site due to soaring construction costs outside its control, it has committed to exploring the delivery of alternative facilities on different sites.
“We believe that it will be possible to deliver new facilities through an alternative scheme.
“As a Council we are absolutely committed to providing the very best facilities for ALN pupils in Llanelli, as we do across the rest of Carmarthenshire. This will be an opportunity to further develop our fully inclusive education system, in line with our inclusion principles and Welsh Government’s Additional Learning Needs Transformation programme.
“Discussions around the future provision of ALN education in Llanelli are ongoing and we are hopeful of making an announcement on our alternative proposals over the next few weeks.”
(Lead image: Google Maps)
