THE BRYMBO community is to be asked for its views on increasing capacity at a replacement school slated to be built in the village by 2025.
Wrexham Council is to go out to consultation to increase capacity at St Mary’s CIW VA School from 154 to 210, with the possibility of increasing to 315 if required.
This consultation will run from October 23 to December 4, but ward councillors have already raised concern that these figures could be too low to meet growing demand in the village.
The current school site is placed on a steep hill with restricted parking, poor vehicle access and a limited outdoor playground area.
It currently utilises a playing field away from the building which pupils must access by crossing a busy road.
The site is land locked, unsuitable to meet the requirements for the new curriculum and future predicted demand for school places in the village of Brymbo and the surrounding area.
An opportunity has arisen to secure a new site at the former steelworks site on Kent Road, less than a mile away from the current school site.
At a meeting of the council’s executive board, lead member for education Brynyffynnon Cllr Phil Wynn presented a report paving the way for the consultation, saying it is hoped the new school will open for the 2025-26 academic year.
He added that this was still reliant on a land transfer taking place to allow the new school, which would be more central in the village, to be built.
Cllr Wynn also said since the plans were mooted 2017 birth rate in Wales and the UK has “dropped significantly”, but that the consultation could prove a need for more capacity.
Neighbouring ward member, Gwenfro Cllr Nigel Williams (Ind) flagged new housing developments happening in the nearby area, suggesting that the school needed to be “future proofed” for that.
And Brymbo ward councillors suggested increased capacity could be required.
Brymbo Cllr Paul Rogers (Ind) welcomed the report describing the new school as a “key piece in the jigsaw of the regeneration of the former Brymbo Steelworks site”.
He said: “So far we’ve had 600 homes built already which has left limited capacity locally with many parents sending their children to school elsewhere in the borough for a number of reasons.
“There are currently 70 properties under construction with at least 300 proposed in the near future.
“On this basis I would query whether a 210 (capacity) school would be able to accommodate all the current children residing in the area if parents wanted to send their children to the nearest school?”
Cllr Rogers added that there was also concern in the community that the new school might operate across two sites for some time.
Cllr Wynn assured residents the intention is to operate from the new school site “as quickly as possible”.
Fellow Brymbo Cllr Gary Brown (Lab) said he had concerns about the “dramatic change” in numbers being forecast from when the new build was originally mooted, which suggested a 215 capacity with room to expand to 420.
He said: “This is perhaps dangerous in limiting future growth. We should be planning for the future and making sure the school is future proofed.”
Cllr Brown asked whether budget pressures were part of the reason for the revised figures, along with falling birth rates nationally.
The council’s chief finance officer Richard Weigh confirmed budget pressures had nothing to do with the revision, although Cllr Wynn did add that the cost of building had increased since 2017.
Councillors were told the authority will need to submit a business case to the Welsh Government for money towards the project so it needs to provide as accurate pupil forecast numbers as it can.
Cllr Rogers said: “We don’t want to be in a situation where we build a 210 school and down the line we’re struggling to find capital funds to build an extension and then have to build that while pupils are on site.”
Later in the debate, lead member for finance and council leader Esclusham Cllr Markk Pritchard said he would be loathed to see a new school with modular buildings tacked on later to increase capacity, stressing the need for the consultation to provide an accurate forecast.
Chief officer for education Karen Evans said all schools would be consulted with during the process, with drop-ins at the Enterprise Centre and online.
A report on the project is likely to come before the executive board by April, as the executive board voted to go ahead with the consultation.
