A NEW school for children with additional learning needs (ALN) will be built on the site of a former council HQ in the Rhondda.
The school for ALN pupils aged 3-19 will be located at the Pavilions in Clydach Vale, which used to be Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council offices after approval by RCT’s planning committee on Thursday, March 6.
The school would provide English medium ALN education for 176 pupils, with 32 places from nursery to year two, 52 primary places, 70 secondary places and 22 post-16 places. There would be 113 full-time equivalent staff.
It will be a “net zero carbon in operation” building with all operational energy generated by a roof-mounted solar photovoltaic array and heating/cooling provided by air source heat pumps.
The building will have 12 classrooms, a canteen, a hydrotherapy pool and various multi-use spaces at ground-floor level.
On the first floor, there will be 11 classrooms, a wellbeing centre, and more multi-use spaces.
Things like toilets, offices, storage rooms and staff facilities will be located across the two floors, as well as a secured roof terrace at the southern side elevation.
Age-appropriate outdoor play and learning areas will be located around the building.
The current site access off the unnamed Cambrian Industrial Park feeder road will remain but would be upgraded.
There will be a 79-space car park, 10% of which will include electric vehicle charging points, and there will be a drop-off and pick-up area, covered storage for bicycles, and a refuse storage and collection point.
All trees and woodland which surround the site will be kept, with no development proposed in the area of Site of Importance for Nature Conservation habitat.
New, native landscaping features will be introduced, as will necessary sustainable drainage system features.
RCT’s other four ALN schools will remain after this development.
The new school will provide education for pupils with a range of needs including autistic spectrum disorders, severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties, and sensory impairment.
Information submitted as part of the application said: “It would afford improved mental and emotional wellbeing for staff and learners alike, through an innovate 21st century learning environment.
“This will enhance pupil motivation through improved standards, subsequently improving their academic skills, their attendance and behaviour, while also increasing their independence and wider life skills.”
Wider community use is not proposed because the application said it would not be appropriate.
The site was previously occupied by a collection of nine buildings, operating as the former council headquarters offices called the Pavilions. Those buildings have been demolished and the site has been cleared and levelled.
Councillor Jill Bonetto said she thought it was great that they were having a new ALN school and it was something that they needed.
In recommending approval, the planning report said: “While the site is located outside of settlement limits, it is brownfield in nature having previously been occupied by the former council headquarters – the Pavilions.
“The site has therefore been long accepted as appropriate for development and this proposal would bring it back into beneficial use.
“Moreover, the new school would provide a much needed, modern, ‘net zero carbon in operation’ additional learning needs facility that is compliant with Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools brief and will be of significant benefit to the pupils of the catchment area.
“The new building would be of a clean, modern and attractive design, and would have no impact to the amenities of the closest residents or to highway safety in the locality.”
