A restricted item due for discussion by Bridgend Council’s Cabinet later today hints at where the long sought after land for a new Welsh-medium primary school in Bridgend might be.
An item of business (Item 15) entitled “Acquisition of Land off Ffordd Cadfan, Brackla, Linking to Band B of the School Modernisation Programme” has been restricted and won’t be discussed in public because of commercial confidentiality.
There are two school-related issues in the area that this item of business may refer to. Firstly, oversubscription problems at Coety Primary and, secondly, the issues of oversubscription at Ysgol Bro Ogwr and meeting local demand for Welsh-medium education.
A new Ysgol Bro Ogwr was previously proposed at the Ger-y-Coed fields in Brackla but was withdrawn.
New schools have been proposed in “northeast Bridgend” as part of the Band B school programme and this item of business strongly suggests BCBC are in talks to secure land for that (no s**t, Sherlock).
For the sake of speculation, the land (which I assume is the undeveloped area off the Princess Way roundabout in Brackla near Shephard’s Vets) is more than big enough to accommodate a single site dual stream school (one Welsh-medium, one English-medium).
That would be similar to Betws Primary/Ysgol Calon y Cymoedd and the proposals for replacement English and Welsh-medium schools in North Cornelly.
Another possible option is that a larger Ysgol Bro Ogwr could be built at Ffordd Cadfan, while the current Ysgol Bro Ogwr on Meadow Rise becomes an overspill English-medium school (though that might have a knock-on effect on the catchment areas of Brackla Primary and Penybont Primary).
