Local County Councillors for Lliedi have backed Heol Goffa’s call for a new 150-pupil special school for Llanelli, calling on the council to deliver the project promptly.
Carmarthenshire Council has scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting on 31 July to progress one of the two shortlisted options for a new special school for Llanelli.
Option 4 commits to building a new 150-pupil special school and to developing proposals to build one primary and one secondary specialist centre for pupils with autism spectrum conditions attached to mainstream schools.
Alternatively, the councillors could agree to Option 5, which proposes building a new 250-pupil special school to include provision for pupils with autism spectrum conditions.
This month, governors from Ysgol Heol Goffa wrote to council leaders to state that their preference was for Option 4 to be progressed.
Both local County Councillors, Independent Councillor Rob James and newly-elected Reform Councillor Michelle Beer, have backed the school governing board’s preference, urging the council to deliver the much-needed new school as soon as possible.
Cllr Rob James stated, “It’s been 13 months since the late Cllr Leyshon and I held a public meeting on the future of the school and helped form the Save Heol Goffa Action Committee.
“In that time, we safeguarded the school’s future, secured significant funding to deliver urgent repairs to the current building, and won the argument for a new school.
“Throughout this time, I have been clear that I want a new school to be built and opened as soon as possible, and that the pupils, teaching staff, parents, and governors should have a say in the specifications of that school.
“Option 5 appears to reset the clock and delay the benefits a new school will deliver, while a new 150-pupil school could be built quickly. Therefore, I am backing the school in its desire to have a new 150-pupil school and call on the council to get the shovel in the ground as soon as possible.”
Cllr Beer stated, “It is good to hear that the Cabinet has scheduled an emergency cabinet meeting on 31 July to progress one of the two shortlisted options for Ysgol Heol Goffa. It is a matter of urgency that the children, parents, and staff of the school get the much-needed new facilities they deserve and the building of the new facilities starts as soon as possible. The children and parents have waited patiently for a long time. I look forward to the Councils next steps forward in this project.”
I believe the 250 pupil school should be the one as more and more children are being diagnosed, so bigger is better than portacabins and add ons in the future.