A Cardiff special needs school is set to more than double in size after plans to expand it across two separate sites were approved. Cardiff Council's planning committee met on Thursday, July 6 to discuss two separate applications for new special needs schools on different sites in the city and gave the go ahead to both.
One of the schools will be built on land south of Fairwater Primary School on Wellwright Road and the other will replace the St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School building next to Pen y Bryn Primary School in Llanrumney. St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School will be relocated to a new building constructed at the St Edeyrns housing development in Pontprennau.
Both developments will see The Court Special School expanded by 72 places. The special needs school, located on Station Road in Llanishen, currently accommodates 42 pupils. Headteacher of Pen y Bryn Primary School, Ceri Bowen, expressed support for the new school for Llanrumney in a letter to the council written in March.
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However, he also said he was concerned over the potential impact that the new development could have on traffic in the area. Mr Bowen said: "Although there will be significantly less pupils attending The Court School than St Mellons Primary School, we would highlight the fact that the existing road network along, and around Dunster Road, is already at breaking point.
"The road is extremely narrow, and at the start and the end of the day, there are numerous issues with parking and cars unable to pass each other." Mr Bowen also said that members of the Pen y Bryn community are worried about the amount of land which is proposed to be repurposed as part of the development.
The headteacher added: "The Governing body would like assurances that no further land will be repurposed. Our plans to develop a forest school area in the land that is being allocated for The Court School has been put on hold due to the development.
"However, dialogue with the council has been strong in supporting Pen y Bryn with re-evaluating the school's current provision and how it can be improved in the future." The special needs schools will each provide space for 36 pupils and 27 members of staff.
