Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet has approved the next steps to deliver a new replacement school on the existing Plasyfelin Primary School site.
At a meeting earlier this week, Cabinet agreed to progress the scheme and allocate additional Council funding from existing capital budgets to keep the project on track. The Welsh Government has also agreed to contribute £14.753m through its Sustainable Communities for Learning (Band B) programme.
The new school will be the local authority’s first net zero school. The overall budget for the scheme has been reprofiled to reflect market inflation, further site investigations and the confirmed requirements of delivering a net zero carbon building with an integrated childcare provision.
The new and enlarged replacement school will increase accommodation for up to 420 pupils plus a nursery provision and provide additional multi-use sporting facilities available for use by the school and the wider community. Councillor Carol Andrews, Cabinet Member for Education and Communities, said: “This decision keeps us on course to deliver a modern, net zero carbon school that meets the demands of our learners, supports our decarbonisation ambitions and provides high‑quality facilities for the benefit of the wider community.
“By committing this additional investment now, we will be able to move forward with this exciting development that will serve as a key resource for the community.” A full business case has now been approved by Welsh Government to confirm their contribution.
The project will now progress as a part of the councils wider ambitious Place Shaping programme that targets strategic capital investment projects such as the building of new schools, housing developments, sports facilities, delivering building improvements and infrastructure maintenance.