A new Welsh medium school is set to be built to serve a major development in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT). To meet the demand for school places in future years, the plan is to establish a new Welsh medium primary school for three to 11-year-olds as part of the Llanilid housing development and change Dolau Primary School from dual language to English medium.

RCT’s cabinet gave its backing for the proposals at a meeting on Wednesday, February 19. The new Welsh medium primary school will open no later than the 2027 academic year with a capacity for 480 statutory school age pupils plus 60 for nursery age pupils.

Dolau Primary School will become an English medium primary school at the same time with places increased to 488 plus 63 nursery spaces. In January, 2016, RCT’s planning committee approved outline planning consent for the construction of 1,850 new houses, retail floor space, a medical centre, a library/community facility, a new primary school and associated public open space on land at the former open cast coal site in Llanharan. To get all the latest daily Wales Online news straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Written responses to the consultation on the proposals saw 50 of the 99 people who responded being in favour of the proposal, 37 against it, 10 unsure and two not answering. The capital cost of the new Welsh medium school will be met through the Community Infrastructure Levy from the development of the Llanilid site and through funding from the Welsh Government Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.

The small-scale spend for any adaptations needed at Dolau Primary School will be met from RCT’s core capital budget. Any revenue spend resulting from the new Welsh medium primary school, including the school’s delegated budget and any potential increase in home to school transport costs will be identified as the proposal develops, the report said.

A financial update on the proposal is to be included in a future treasury management report to council. Councillor Rhys Lewis, cabinet member for education, highlighted that no statutory objections had been received on this “extremely exciting and ambitious” project.

He said he was sure a new school in what effectively was a brand new community would be welcomed. He said they’re building in capacity for growth in the future which aligns with the council’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.

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