The location for a new Catholic school for pupils aged three to 16 in Merthyr Tydfil has been approved. A special full council meeting on Wednesday, March 16, approved the recommendation to build the new school on the current Bishop Hedley High School site with a sports pitch provided on the Buttercup Fields at a cost of nearly £48m.
It follows several consultations on where to build the new school after the community voiced its opposition to building on The Greenie playing fields or the Buttercup Fields. The total cost of the Bishop Hedley project will be £47.9m with £40.35m coming from Welsh Government and £7.55m from the council.
The council will submit a business case to the Welsh Government and the aim is for the new school to open across the current school sites this September and the new building in September 2026. Land south of the ‘Greenie’, west of Galon Uchaf Road and the current Bishop Hedley upper and lower sites were first put forward for consultation in November 2020.
Read more: Pitch fees for Merthyr Tydfil sports clubs scrapped until at least 2026
In January 2021, land south of the ‘Greenie’, west of Galon Uchaf Road was approved as the preferred site. After works to find the best solutions for the site of the school building, traffic management, drop-off/parking and sports facilities, other options for the location of the school were put out for further consultation.
They included the Buttercup Fields and The Greenie and in May 2021, with cabinet moving the proposal for The Greenie to the next stage of development. But in July 2021, after concerns were raised on social media that a large number of residents were not aware of the consultation, this was extended.
In December 2021, council was presented with the results where 68.5% of respondents said they would not like the school to be built on either of the field sites. Others sites were suggested but the report to council said none were feasible, except the current Bishop Hedley High School site.
A study was carried out and showed that building on the Bishop Hedley site with the creation of a rugby field on the Buttercup Fields was feasible. The council took forward two options to another public consultation – the Bishop Hedley site or The Greenie.
Following the latest consultation which took place in January and February, just over 92% of the local community said they preferred the Bishop Hedley option with just under 52% of the school community preferring The Greenie option. This means just over 80% of those who responded favoured the Bishop Hedley option.
The council’s appraisal showed the Bishop Hedley site has an overall higher rating and lower risk rating than The Greenie option and the latter would have a negative impact on the Cwm Taf Wellbeing Plan while the former would have a positive impact.
Councillor Clive Jones said the traffic management impact assessment is “extremely important” because of the number of pupils that will be travelling to and from the new school. Councillor Julian Amos said he regarded the recommendation as a “victory for the community” adding that he thinks it’s a “sensible outcome”.
Councillor Kevin O’Neill said: “I’m delighted the public have now been fully engaged, I’m delighted the public have been listened to and I’m delighted we’ve got some form of compromise. That is politics. That is democracy. The Greenie has been saved.” Councillor Andrew Barry said he’d like to think there’s a greater understanding of what’s required during consultation and that he thinks they’ve got to where they need to be.
Councillor Chris Davies said: “It’s amazing to see really the engagement, enthusiasm, passion, the community coming alive.” He said he thinks the recommendation is a true reflection that they are a “listening and responding council” and highlighted the importance of community use, traffic management and consultation with residents.
Councillor Lisa Mytton, leader of the council and cabinet member for education, said they are finally in a place she always said they would be with a democratic decision. She said: “However we cannot hide from what has happened in the last eight months.”
Cllr Mytton thanked members of the community who voiced their concerns “eloquently and professionally” but also mentioned the “cesspit” that certain aspects of social media had become. She said: “We must of course learn lessons from the vitriolic behaviour of some keyboard warriors.”
Cllr Mytton said warriors was too good a word for them describing them as “keyboard bullies, intimidators and harassers” spreading untruths that this was never going to full council, that it was a “done deal” and the council wasn’t listening. She said: “We’ve always said we would listen. We have listened. There was never any doubt about that.”
She said there were comments and behaviour that were so personal and vile that they are “simply unforgivable.” Cllr Mytton said: “They should hang their heads in shame. Be kind was simply lost on some people.”
But she said these people are a minority and that whatever happens in the future it’s vitally important that they protect their staff, teachers and elected members from the abuse and threatening behaviour of some. She said that politics should focus on facts and they should have respectful debates based on differences of policy or priorities not insults, intolerance, misinformation, misogyny, discrimination or division.
Cllr Mytton then added: “We will be providing a brand new 21st Century school for our children which every child deserves. A fantastic learning environment. “And not forgetting the community and The Greenie. We have already started work on supporting the community and seeing what we can do to enhance that green space and enhance the playgrounds and the sporting provision there.”
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