Gwynedd Councillors have voted unanimously to close Ysgol Glanadda and Ysgol Babanod Coed Mawr primary schools in Bangor and for the building of a new Ysgol y Garnedd, which will accommodate up to 420 pupils.
Cabinet member for education, Cllr Gareth Thomas, said: “Ysgol y Garnedd is over capacity and the building is not fit for purpose. They find it hard with a lack of space and facilities which has a detrimental effect on staff and pupils, so a new school was one of the main objectives.
“There’s a lack of space to build in Bangor so it was difficult to find a suitable site but thankfully we found one. Its been very difficult to appoint headteachers to Glanadda and Coed Mawr, which has also formed part of the decision process.”
Cllr Gareth Thomas also referred to the new Ysgol Glancegin in Maesgeirchen, which he said had “state of the art facilities, and has already proved its worth in the city.”
The main objections raised were the concerns about the increase of traffic and safety of children on an already busy Penrhos Road, which serves several schools in the area and Ysbyty Gwynedd.
The council were informed that the new school is double the size of the existing Ysgol y Garnedd but will provide an additional 30 parking spaces for staff and visitors and that traffic management will also be in place to improve the process of dropping children off and collecting them from school, easing congestion along Penrhos Road.
Cllr Thomas added: “I understand the concerns over Penrhos Road and we could also look at the possibly staggering opening and closing times, which could improve the traffic situation, but that would be down to the individual schools.”
Concerns were also raised by local residents about the use of Penrhos Avenue during the construction of the new school, Cllr Dafydd Gibbard confirmed that heavy vehicles would only use the main entrance to the site and only workers vehicles will use Penrhos Ave.
Councillor Elin Walker-Jones for Glyder Ward in Bangor, supported the plans for the new school but said: “There are concerns regarding shutting Glanadda and Coed Mawr and I’m aware that the chair of governors has asked to keep Glanadda open.
“Concerns have also been raised over Welsh medium education at Ysgol y Garnedd due to the change in demography, despite the efforts of other Bangor schools in terms of the Welsh language, I’d want to see y Garnedd given the support it needs to continue offering this Welsh ethos, even with greater pupil numbers.”
Cllr Gareth Thomas noted that all schools in Gwynedd should adhere to the same language policy, but accepted the feeling that Y Garnedd has a stronger emphasis for providing Welsh medium education.
Calls had been made to delay the decision on the closures but Cllr Gareth Thomas added that the deferring the decision would delay the construction of the new school and disrupt the funding from the Welsh Government, requiring the whole process to start again.
The proposal was carried unanimously which means that Ysgol Glanadda and Ysgol Babanod Coed Mawr will close in August 2020.
Ysgol Glanadda (Top) and Ysgol Babanod Coed Mawr will close in August 2020
