PLANS for a new £11.5 million school in Cwmbran to help meet an expected increased demand from a 1,200-dwelling housing development have won the backing of senior councillors in Torfaen.

The proposed rebuild of Maendy Primary School will see improved facilities and an increase in the number of pupil places from 231 to 420, plus a 30-place nursery.

It will be the council’s first low-carbon, energy-efficient school project, and will also see a new site entrance developed.

Existing buildings, described as being in need of “great attention”, will be demolished on completion of the new school at the site, which will provide a “world-class educational facility.”

Costing £11.46m, the Welsh Government is expected to fund 65 per cent of the project, equating to £7.45m.

Torfaen council’s cabinet agreed to start a consultation on the plans, and to submit a final business case to the Welsh Government for the project at a meeting yesterday.

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Cllr David Yeowell, executive member for education, said the scheme will see a “state-of-the-art-school” built.

He also said the project is an opportunity to improve access to the school, which he described as currently being “woefully inadequate.”

Pontnewydd councillor David Daniels also voiced his support for the scheme.

“I am overjoyed to see an £11.5m investment in what will be a world class educational facility in Torfaen and Pontnewydd,” he said.

Cllr Daniels also praised the low carbon design design of the school in light of the authority’s climate emergency declaration.

Building work could start as early as July next year, with the school planned to be ready by September, 2023.

The council is looking to expand the capacity of the school as it expects increased demand from 1,200 homes being built in South Sebastopol.

A council report says the existing school buildings would need “significant investment” to bring them up to an “as built” standard, with the bill for maintenance backlog estimated at £523,105.

A six-week consultation on the plans will now start in the coming weeks.