Team to oversee building of new school

Councillors have agreed to set up a project team to design a new school in Abergavenny amid renewed calls for the redevelopment of Chepstow School to be brought forward.

Monmouthshire County Council is creating an all age through school in Abergavenny by bringing a redeveloped King Henry VIII Comprehensive School and Deri View Primary School onto the same site.

The redevelopment is part of a four-school project as part of the council’s 21st Century Schools programme, with schools in Caldicot and Monmouth already complete.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, the council agreed to set up a new team to research the best method of construction and oversee the project.

Cllr Richard John, cabinet member for children and young people, said the Abergavenny school was prioritised ahead of the Chepstow redevelopment because it was in a “more aged state” and “more urgent.”

But Cllr Armand Watts said the ‘push back’ of Chepstow School’s redevelopment had been “a very difficult pill to swallow.”

He said: “We need to make a clear statement of intent otherwise there will be a reduction in the reputation of that school.

“I am pleading with you to make an immediate commitment to Chepstow School.”

But Cllr John said there was a “clear commitment” to the future of Chepstow School as part of the 21st Century Schools programme.

“No project has been kicked into the long grass, we are still committed to doing all four,” he said.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, Labour’s group leader, called for the redevelopment of schools in Chepstow and Abergavenny to be made at the same rate.

Cllr Batrouni called for the council to revisit the issue due to increased Welsh Government funding being made available.

He said: “We need to make [Chepstow School] a 21st century school so it can compete and give the Chepstow residents and pupils the top quality education they need as quickly as possible.”

But leader of the council, Cllr Peter Fox, said it was not possible to pay for the redevelopment of both schools together.

“I am quite astounded our opposition have not got a grasp of the financial pressures this organisation is facing,” he added.

The new Abergavenny school will allow the Welsh language primary school, Ysgol Y Fenni to relocate to the former Deri View site providing the potential to extend their capacity from a 262 capacity to a two-form entry school of 420 pupils.

Plans are also in place to develop a two-form entry Welsh Medium stream on the King Henry VIII site.