Newtown's £8.5m Welsh-medium primary school plans submitted

The primary school in Newtown is planned to be built on land at the town's high school

Plans to build a new Welsh medium school to meet growing demand in north Powys have moved a step closer.

Powys council has submitted a planning application for Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd next to Newtown High School.

The new school, if approved by planners in the new year, will cost £8.5m and is designed for up to 300 pupils.

It also includes facilities for children with learning needs and community learning for adults.

Ian Roberts, the council's interim head of the schools service, said: "We submitted a funding application to the Welsh government's 21st Century Schools initiative, to meet the extra demand for Welsh medium education in the Severn Valley area and this is an important step in the project."

Contractors Willmott Dixon have been appointed to take the project to the planning application stage.

The company has recently worked on school projects in Ystradgynlais, building four new primary schools - including one Welsh medium - and a new block for the town's secondary school.

The local authority decided to build a new school in Newtown because the existing Ysgol Dafydd Llwyd was "full" and had "building deficiencies".

A Powys council spokesman said that the public will have until Friday 20 December to comment on the application.