HOPES that a new community campus will replace the aging buildings at Ysgol Bro Ddyfi at Machynlleth have received a boost.
It comes as Powys County Council’s ambitious plans to modernise Powys schools received the news of £78m support under the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools programme.
The 21st Century funding is listed for 2014/15 to 2019/20.
The new campus proposal at Machynlleth will enable the council’s ambition for efficient and high-quality education provision while providing citizen-centred services to a rural and isolated community.
A spokesman for Powys County Council said: “Efficiencies will be realised by bringing together a secondary school, post-16 provision and adult learning services on one campus.
“This is one of the priority projects for the authority and has been in development since the Geographic Pathfinder initiative in 2005/06.
"The first phase of the project was completed in 2009, with the opening of Canolfan Hyddgen, a multi-agency post-16 training centre.
“The project encapsulates the authority’s vision for providing services for the Green Heart of Wales – it addresses three of the four main improvement priorities – learning in the community, economic regeneration and climate change, and can also make a positive contribution to improving adult living.
“The integration of these facilities provides a cost-effective way of retaining key services in a rural area.
"Linked to this development is the recommendation to develop an all through school for three to 19-year-olds in the Dyfi Valley.”