Location of new school in Gwynedd is changed

The process of school reorganisation has already been full of twists and turns

The proposed location of a new school in Gwynedd has been changed after planning and land ownership problems.

Gwynedd council wants to move pupils from Abergynolwyn, Bryncrug, Llanegryn and Llwyngwril schools to the new site in the Bro Dysynni catchment area.

However, so-called "ghost school" Ysgol Abergynolwyn is already empty, after all 12 pupils left in September.

The original site was near Talybont. An alternative on the outskirts of Llanegryn is now being examined.

A council spokesman said £5.5m of Welsh Assembly Government funding had been secured to build the new school.

'Clear strategy'

Councillor Liz Saville Roberts, who leads on education for Gwynedd council, said the council had set out a "clear strategy" to deal with a situation where school buildings were no longer "fit for purpose".

"Identifying a suitable site for the proposed new area school for Bro Dysynni is a key part of this strategy," she added.

The change of location is the latest twist in the process of schools reorganisation in the area.

In September, Ysgol Aberygynolwyn was left empty after all 12 pupils transferred to nearby Ysgol Bryncrug - a year before the council was planning to close the building.

Meanwhile, Llwyngwril school supporters have sought legal advice on the council's closure process.

They have vowed to fight to keep the 29-pupil primary school open as they say children's education will suffer, and they do not want them bussed to a community school still to be built.

A spokeswoman for the Friends of the Children of Llwyngwril (FOTCOL) group said: "There are better, more effective, ways of achieving the same savings and reduction of surplus places without going to the expense of building a new area school."