A DETERIORATING school building will be demolished and rebuilt with a £21 million cash boost.
Ysgol Gogarth in Llandudno, a school for pupils with special educational needs, has received more than £15 million from the Welsh Assembly Government and a further investment of more than £6 million from Conwy County Borough Council.
The 1960s built complex is part of a £144 million package to invest in new capital projects throughout Wales. It adds to the £289.6 million programme for investment, announced by the Welsh Assembly over the last 18 months. The cash injection for Ysgol Gogarth is the largest investment made by the government in North Wales.
Gareth Jones, AM for Aberconwy, visited the Nant-y-Gamar Road school, recently and said the building has “outlived its usefulness.” He said: “There was a clear need for a replacement. The Head and Chair had told me for instance that the roof continually leaked and it was difficult to turn the heating off, even when it wasn’t required. They’re just small examples but the whole building is really past its sell-by date.
“More than that though, there is an overwhelming requirement to develop a purpose-built centre of special needs education to serve the whole Conwy County and a new Ysgol Gogarth can deliver that goal.”
Cllr Wyn Ellis Jones, Conwy cabinet portfolio holder for Education, said the investment will make a “real difference” to the provision of special needs education in Conwy. He said: “We’ve worked hard to make sure that Conwy has the necessary funding in place so I'm absolutely delighted that all that work has paid off with this announcement from the Welsh Government that we can go ahead.”
But the announcement has sparked upset amongst campaigning parents, who fear for the future of other Llandudno schools.
Mother-of-two, Mel Brooks, who heads up the Parent Teacher Association at Ysgol Ffordd Dyffryn, said money should be ploughed into all schools in the town to safeguard their future. She said: “If there is money available, why can’t they use it to work on other existing schools. If we had that kind of money going into Ffordd Dyffryn, that would be ideal.”
What do you think? Have your say by commenting below.