Autism school plan for Denbigh leisure centre field
- Published
The school caters for autistic children aged from three to 19
Councillors are moving forward with plans to build a new special school after its consultation with residents.
Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn, in Denbigh teaches children with autism and currently has three separate sites including its main Park Street base.
The preferred new site location is the field next to Denbigh Leisure Centre, currently used by Denbigh High School.
Residents raised concerns over parking issues and Denbigh High School losing one of its playing fields.
Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn admits pupils aged three to 19 - 84% of whom live within Denbighshire - and is oversubscribed.
The school has 136 pupils attending sites which only have provision for 116 pupils. There are also 72 children on the waiting list for assessment.
The council has not received any objections to extending capacity at the school, which was the subject of the latest planning meeting.
The other objections fell outside the scope of the existing consultation but are likely to be raised at later stages of the planning process.
Deputy leader Gill German, who spoke in favour of the plans, said a lot of progress had been made in the diagnosis and understanding of the needs of children on the autistic spectrum.
"I have been in many classrooms where I've seen mainstream is not working for some children," the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.
"We know that need is out there. We know we need to meet the needs of children in a place that best suits them, so looking to increase capacity is the right thing to do."
The school will be 75% funded by the Welsh government and 25% by Denbighshire council.
The plans will progress to an implementation phase.
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- Published20 February 2023
