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20 to replace the current Heol Goffa special school, which the council had previously described as oversubscribed and “outdated”.
It then scrapped the plans describing them as “not financially viable” – a decision that triggered a huge public backlash and a 5,000 name petition handed into the council calling on them to reverse that decision.
Now, Cllr Glynog Davies, Carmarthenshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language has said he is to propose that the council’s cabinet consider one of two options for new additional learning needs provision in Llanelli – both of which would result in a larger school than the 120 pupil school that was rejected on cost grounds.
Cllr Davies said: “The original plan that many had pressed for would have resulted in a smaller school, which would have been full on day one.
“Following the independent report we commissioned by David Davies, a former ALN head, I’ll be recommending either a 150-capacity Heol Goffa school on one site, with primary and secondary specialist centres for a total of 115 pupils with Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) attached to mainstream schools, or a new ALN school for 250 pupils, to include provision for pupils with ASC.
“Despite huge financial pressures, we are determined to ensure the very best provision for ALN pupils in the Llanelli area, future-proofed for decades to come. I’m asking for more definite costings and, as always, we will engage with the Welsh Government to ensure funding for the scheme.”
Local Labour councillor, and founder member of an action group campaigning for a new school, Sean Greaney has criticised the way the Plaid-run administration has managed the issue.
Cllr Greaney said: “Plaid has given no guarantees. They have not said they have committed funding for the school. They have not set any timetable or deadline for the school to be built.
“The Welsh Government has committed to fund 75% of the cost of the new school, But after Plaid broke their seven-year promise to build the school, how do we know that their announcement is not just hollow words timed to coincide with the Lliedi by-election?
“We have to have a 100%, nailed on, guarantee that this new school will happen as soon as possible.
“Not only that, but the school, the action group, and most importantly, the parents want a school for 250 pupils, to ensure pupils with autistic spectrum conditions are not left out.
“They need an education specifically tailored to their needs and would benefit immensely from being part of a “super” Ysgol Heol Goffa where the existing expertise of the staff and governors would benefit them immensely, rather than being attached as an add-on to mainstream schools, which is the 150-pupil option.”
