Parents who want their children to
start a Welsh medium education at a primary school in Grangetown have been
urged to put their names down for a starter class at Ninian Park Primary.
The TAG campaign group (@ymgyrchtag) said parents should consider the
choice on what was the former site of Tan yr Eos classroom from September.
"It is intended that this class will be the first intake for the new
Welsh-medium school that is promised for the Butetown and Grangetown wards,"
said the campaign. "This school seems likely to be located next to
Hamadryad Park and to open in 2017.
A consultation about the new school was postponed until after the General
Election and the campaign said parents should be aware that even if they
have registered for another school but would prefer the new Welsh-medium
class, they can contact the council to inform them that they want their child
registered for Ysgol Gymraeg Pwll Coch and the Ninian Park class
in particular.
Hospital grounds site proposed for new school
The derelict grounds are behind the Victorian hospital building
A new site for a proposed Welsh medium primary school
for Grangetown and Butetown has been put forward - but it will be after
May's General Election before a formal consultation can begin, almost a
year since the last one.
A land deal has been struck with a housing association looking to build
flats in the grounds of the Hamadryad Hospital - which would now free
up that site for the school to open by September 2017.
Although just over the river from Grangetown, where most of the pupils would be drawn from, it would avoid a controversial option of redeveloping the Channel View Leisure Centre for a new school and leisure hub.
Results of a consultation last spring have also just been published
which show how unpopular that proposal was. A total of 77 were in favour
but 320 were opposed. The distrust wasn't helped by a poorly presented
concept for the Channel View site, lacking in detail and lack of assurances
that leisure facilities would be accessible during school hours. A report
to the council's cabinet on Monday admits local residents were "very protective"
about local facilities.
The new option involves a Welsh-medium school on the hospital grounds
site, where local residents had been battling against a housing association
development on traffic and parking grounds. Pupils would use the park
and playing fields next door.
But the option of a new school being built near Channel View is still
an option - but the leisure centre would stay intact and there would still
be room for community play facilities, albeit not the current play centre.
The proposal would involve pupils using the centre and the all-weather
pitch during the day, as well as sports pitches at The Marl.
There is a growing demand for both Welsh and English medium places -
around 40 and 140 a year - especially with more housing developments in
Grangetown. The wider proposals also propose an expansion of Ninian Park
Primary School, where there are already temporary school buildings. These
would be used in the short term from September 2015 for Welsh-medium pupils
until the new school is ready.
"Our campaign for a Welsh-medium community school in the Butetown and Grangetown area took yet another dramatic turn when Cardiff council cabinet discussed plans that included a proposed site next to Hamadryad Park.
"The other option is for a school next door to – but apart
from - Channel View Leisure Centre, which effectively puts paid
to the idea presented in last summer’s engagement process to combine
the school with this facility.
"May we say we very much regret that this latter proposal
was not developed into a fully fledged plan that could have been
an exciting way of combining and guaranteeing community facilities
for the long term. However, such plans required leadership and vision
from local politicians, and the will to bring the community together
– but instead we saw hand-wringing and crude attempts to sow discontent
and division.
"Under the circumstances we appreciate why officers had to put forward
less ambitious proposals, but we remain very concerned about the
uncertainty surrounding the future of our leisure facilities.
"Looking on the bright side, we are encouraged that there will be a starter
class for the new school in September 2015, and we would urge all
new parents in the area to consider sending their children there,
when the opportunity arises in May to look again at their choice.
The new school will be for all of the children and families of Butetown
and Grangetown, and if anyone has any questions or doubts please
contact us via our Facebook page at “Ymgyrch TAG”.
"We are now looking forward to working with the council to ensure all
preparations for the new starter class and new school go as smoothly
as possible, and to encourage all parents in the area to consider
bilingual education for their children.
"All being well, Ysgol Gymraeg Hamadryad will have its first children come
September, with a new building opening its doors in 2017. At last,
the children and parents of Butetown and Grangetown will have the
same educational choice and opportunities as others across the city."
Jo Beavan Matcher, TAG Campaign Chair (letter to Echo, 9th February)
Campaigners' relief but work still to do
The campaign group Ymgyrch TAG gave a "cautious welcome"
to the latest proposals and were to discuss their response in detail
at a meeting on Tuesday 27th January (Lyndon social club, Clare
Rd, 7.30pm).
Jo Beavan-Matcher, TAG chair called the announcement "a relief".
She welcomed the proposal to locate the starter class at Ninian
Park from next September but hoped there would be enough places
to meet demand.
"One obvious disappointment is that the school
will not have a permanent location until 2017, despite the initial
promise of a school by 2016. Tied in with this is the fact that delays
mean a statutory consultation is not possible until after Westminster
elections in May, which will contribute to delaying the process further."
Ms Beavan-Matcher said the Hamadryad option would mean new challenges "but as a campaign we are keen
to discuss them and to cooperate with the council in order to achieve
the outcome we all want to see."
Huw Williams, secretary of Ymgyrch TAG expressed dissatisfaction
in the way the original Channel View option had been handled while
they still remained "anxious" for the future of the leisure
centre and play centre in thje current economic climate and "we
can only hope local councillors have better ideas about how to secure
their long term future".
He said there had been a "desperate need" for vision
and leadership from local councillors but "it seems that dividing
the community and creating discord was their priority".
"As a campaign we must now focus on what's to come, and continue
with the positive attitude we have adopted from the outset - by
ensuring a Welsh-medium school for the children of Grangetown and
Butetown as soon as possible. We need to start thinking seriously
about its future: this is a unique opportunity to see the Welsh
language thrive in an area that is poor in resources but rich in
culture and heritage - with the language being a central part of
that."
He said confirmation of the details about the school needed to
be communicated from the start to parents.
Facebook and
@ymgyrchtag
Pupils would also use the park and a changing rooms might be built
Sketch plan of Channel View option under new proposals
Campaigners urge parents to consider choosing
Ysgol Hamadryad
JUNE 2014: Councillor wants more school site options explored and community voices 'heard and respected'
A Grangetown councillor
has asked Cardiff Council whether other options for the site for a new Welsh
medium school are still possible, in the wake of controversy and confusion
about the future of Channel View Leisure Centre.
Councillor Ashley Govier has
published his own response to the engagement document for the future of
schooling in Grangetown and Butetown after the deadline passed for public
responses.
He's asked a series of questions, including:
He also wants to know if Channel View has a future as a stand-alone leisure
centre. Senior councillors told him at the end of last month that it was
"more likely" to survive if leisure facilities were incorporated into a
new Welsh school, and the education budget.
Council officials presented their options, including a possible revamp
of Channel View, with a £6m Welsh medium school to include leisure
and play facilities shared by the community.
But there was strong opposition for any downgrading of Channel View at
the meeting, with fears access to the public would be lost during the school
day. Officials admitted it was possible some access could be lost but there
was still no proper exploration of this before the meeting moved on to discuss
other schools.
Mr Govier said there has been a "lack of clarity" over whether a school,
education and leisure can be accommodated at Channel View and the need for
more detail - while protecting leisure services - before he can decide whether
the site is suitable.
In his response to the council, he added: "The council process thus far,
I believe has been transparent in what it is asking. i.e. in this case site
considerations and no more than that, however, there is frustration stemming
from a breakdown in the trust between the community and the council.
"Recent budgetary events and local party political battles haven't helped
so it is vital the education department bears this in mind when attempting
future engagement with the community. Whatever the view, however reasonable
or unreasonable, logical or illogical, local voices must be more than just
heard, they must be respected by the cabinet in the decision making process."
Officials were also forced to agree to another meeting to go through the
list of 18 locations which were rejected as unsuitable for a new school.
Mr Govier has already been looking at the long term possibility of a Welsh
school being built by any developers of new housing at the old gas works,
but this would be some way off. Now he is asking whether the council could
build the school under its 21st Century Schools budget - and the money from
developers in Dumballs Road could instead be diverted to securing leisure
and play facilities at Channel View.
The Butetown land near the Hamadryad site was due to have housing built
on it but the Newport-based developers went into administration.
Mr Govier also says the community "would take great comfort if they
had security" for the threatened play centre, next door to Channel
View. The council is to look at a range of options later this summer.
The councillor also wants to ensure that the expansion of Ninian Park Primary
School does not lead to a loss of outdoor space for children. The proposals
also include increasing the size of Ninian Park school from 400 pupils to
600 places to meet the rising demand for English-medium education - including
new developments in the area, including homes planned for Bessemer Road.
The engagement document sets out that it would be possible to accommodate
a school, leisure services and play services on the Channel View Leisure
Centre site - and that is the case. It also makes it clear that detailed
design of the site has not yet been carried out; in other words how
these services would be designed onto the site would follow if the
site were to be selected.
Certainly at the drop-in sessions and meetings it is being made
clear that the site may be set out differently in the future.
The council is under severe financial pressure and one of the ways
that we are seeking to protect non statutory services, like play and
leisure services, is to link them to education developments. We already
have an example of this approach in creating a combined primary school
and community centre in Pontprennau.
Developing the Channel View site might be an opportunity to create
sustainable leisure and play services for the future. Leisure and
play are discretionary services.
The budget reductions affecting leisure and play services at Channel
View were limited for this financial year, but this was to give time
to re-shape services on a sustainable basis and hopefully to lever
in resources from sources outside the Council. The kind of reduction
in the resources available we are likely to see over the next three
years means that it is not possible to commit to these services continuing
more or less as now, irrespective of whether or not a school is included
on the site.
Co-location of a school with leisure and play facilities makes it
more likely, not less that these services can continue to be offered
on the site.
Co-location of leisure and school facilities is a common model throughout
the UK (over 20% of all leisure developments in England are now associated
with schools). Being part of a school does not necessarily mean that
leisure facilities are only available outside school hours.
Access can be managed to allow shared use - the more difficult issue
is identifying the resources to run the leisure component, although
there are examples of where this has been done.
On future management of leisure centres:
Currently, there are no plans for any leisure facility closures,
other than the Star Centre, which is wrapped up with the development
of the Splott Hub facility. Any closures will be determined after
further work on the budget for the next three years. Clearly, within
these discussions, we will have to look at strategic need, current
and future levels of demand and financial performance. Just for your
information, I can confirm that of our leisure facility stock, Channel
View Centre operates at the highest subsidy per user (in excess of
£4 per head) and the lowest annual attendance figure (under 100,000
people).
On play services:
As well as considering leisure services, the Cabinet will also be
exploring issues around Children's Play in the coming weeks.
The demand for a 400-place Welsh medium school in Grangetown is particularly
strong, but the lack of obvious sites as more housing developments swallow
up land has been an obstacle. The new school would start off with 60 pupils.
There has been a vocal campaign for a Welsh medium school, both locally
but also across in Canton, with parents resisting an original plan to expand
capacity at Ysgol Pwll Coch in Leckwith to take in more pupils - including
meeting more demand from Grangetown. There were fears that the school would
suffer if it got too big, with an extra 90 pupils to start with, but that
number increasing as the school grew.
More than 100 people attended a public engagement meeting as part of proposals
for expanding school places in Grangetown, as well as neighbouring Butetown.
Extracts of letter to local councillors,
31 May 2014, from cabinet member Julia McGill:
