A plan to build a new state-of-the-art Welsh-medium primary school in Canton is being drawn up by Cardiff Council.
The new school would be built on Council-owned land off Sanatorium Road and is designed to resolve the issue of rising demand for Welsh-medium education in the Canton area.
Back in May the First Minister rejected a Council proposal to close Lansdowne Primary School and relocate Ysgol Treganna onto the Lansdowne site as a two-form entry primary school with nursery.
Cardiff Council had made the recommendation as part of its School Reorganisation Plan after a public consultation.
As a result Cardiff Council has been working towards an urgent solution and officers have concluded that building a new school is now the only viable option left open.
Executive member for Schools and Lifelong Learning, Councillor Freda Salway, said: “The demand for Welsh-medium education is growing and this has been compounded by the fact that the population has been rising in that part of the city for the last three years.
“This could be the start of a trend and with the First Minister rejecting our last proposal officers have decided that the only option now available is to build a new school.
“This proposed school would have three forms of entry and a nursery, offering excellent modern facilities aimed at meeting the anticipated demand for Welsh-medium education as well as catering for pupils currently attending Treganna and the new Welsh-medium starter class ‘Ysgol Tan-yr-Eos’ at Ninian Park Primary School. The proposal would also mean that English-medium provision in the Canton area would remain as it is.”
It is estimated that the project will cost around £9m and Cardiff Council would be reliant on a funding contribution from the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) for the school to be built.
Council Leader Rodney Berman said: “This is an absolute priority for us. The interests of the children are paramount in all this and I have really felt for the parents of Treganna who have been faced with so much uncertainty for so long. We now need to rely on their patience for a bit longer while we go through the process of working with the Welsh Assembly Government and the community. I hope we can quickly persuade Ministers in the Welsh Assembly Government to allocate the funding we will need to make this proposal a reality.”
He added: “Some issues should transcend politics and schools reorganisation is certainly one of those. Everyone now needs to pull together to give the children of Canton the best possible educational provision we can.”
