ACCORDING to objectors, the decision to close a rural school will have a detrimental effect on the Welsh language.

On Tuesday afternoon, September 3, the Powys County Council (PCC) Cabinet will meet to discuss the 15 objections made against the decision to close both Banwy Community Primary School and Llanerfyl Church in Wales Foundation School on August 31, 2020.

Then, on September 1 next year, it is expected that a new Welsh-medium voluntary aided primary school will be opened on the Banwy school site at Llangadfan.

The controversial decision was taken by the cabinet on April 30.

Formal objections against the proposal were received from May 1 to May 29.

The objections stated that there has been a lack of consideration for the Welsh language and that it is stronger in Llanerfyl.

The objectors claim that: 80 per cent of Llanerfyl pupils come from homes where more than one parent speaks Welsh.

More than 75 per cent of children in Llanerfyl speak Welsh at home compared with 15 per cent of Banw children.

The objectors said: “Llanerfyl is the stronghold of the Welsh language and this should have been considered as well as the financial savings before the making such an important decision.”

“A decision to close a school where Welsh is the natural language of the community to a village where only 12 per cent of children speak Welsh in their homes, suggests that PCC is not concerned about the Welsh language and therefore it will not be possible to increase the number of Welsh speakers in the future.”

PCC responded by saying that the new school for the whole valley would be a Welsh medium school.

The report said: “We hope that all pupils attending the two current primary schools in the area would transfer to that new school, ensuring continued access to Welsh medium education in a Welsh medium school.

“However, all parents are entitled to apply for a place for their child in whichever school they choose.

“The council’s aim is to increase the number of pupils educated through the medium of Welsh, in order to contribute to the Welsh Government aspiration to achieve a million Welsh speakers by the year 2050.

“Implementation of this proposal would result in the establishment of one new, larger school in the Banw Valley area, and the council ‘s view is that this would contribute towards the Welsh Government aspiration.”

They added that school inspectors, Estyn, supported this position in their response during the consultation.

The report goes on to recommend that objections raised need to be understood and to go ahead with the closures and opening a new school at the Dyffryn Banw school site.