The planned closure of a Newtown primary school has been criticised by Montgomeryshire Senedd member Russell George who said the decision by the county council is "short sighted".
Powys County Council has chosen to close Treowen C.P. School, meaning pupils and staff will attend Ysgol Calon y Dderwen, the former Hafren and Ladywell Green schools, in Park Street when the new and yet-to-be-built 360-pupil building is ready.
Pupils will continue to attend school on the Treowen site from September 2025 while the new school building is built.
But Welsh Conservative MS Mr George said he has "grave concerns" with the decision.
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He said: “This is very disappointing news, given that commitments were made ahead of the May 2022 Powys County Council election by the Liberal Democrats not to close schools, the Lib Dem-led council have now decided to close Treowen school next year.
"I have grave concerns with this decision as the site for the new build Ysgol Calon y Dderwen may not have sufficient adequate capacity to accommodate additional children, the area may not be able to accommodate the additional traffic at school drop off and pick up times, and a significant number of further homes are likely to be developed in the Treowen area.
"I believe the council’s decision is short sighted.”
Powys County Council received almost 120 responses to a consultation into its proposal to close Treowen School.
In response to concerns that potential new housing could be built in Treowen, the council said: "There is currently a significant number of surplus places in Newtown primary schools. Should the Council proceed with implementation of the current proposal, there would continue to be surplus places at Newtown schools to accommodate any increase in demand for places in the area as a result of new housing."
The council added that pupil numbers across the two schools are expected to decrease over the coming years with the projected pupil numbers for January 2028 are 229 for Ysgol Calon y Dderwen and 78 for Treowen C.P. School, which is a total of 307 across the two schools.
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The move would also mean increasing the capacity at the proposed new school building on the site of Ysgol Calon y Dderwen which would be located next door to the yet-to-be-built health and wellbeing campus. However, concerns have been raised about the current congestion issues in the Park Street area.
The council said: "These concerns about the impact on traffic and the potential increase in congestion in this area of Newtown are noted.
“Should the council proceed with the proposals, further consideration would be given to this aspect when developing plans for the building, and as part of the wider plans for a well-being campus as part of the North Powys Well-being Programme. This would include an assessment of the impact on traffic in Newtown."
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