Cabinet agree to start the legal process to close Llandinam primary school in August 2025
Another village primary school in Powys could be closed in just over a year’s time
At a meeting of the Liberal Democrat/Labour cabinet on Tuesday, July 15, senior councillors agreed unanimously to start the legal process to close Llandinam primary school by the end of August 2026.
This will be done by holding a consultation on the proposal.
Reform UK’s Councillor Karl Lewis (Llandinam with Dolfor) argued against the move and said: “Like my community I’m absolutely devastated that you have chosen to bring this paper to cabinet.
“I understand the immense pressure the council faces to find savings through cutting services or selling assets, however there are times when exceptional circumstances demand a different approach, and I genuinely believe that Llandinam school represents those exceptional circumstances.”
He explained that the school has a number of children with additional learning needs (ALN) that have come to Llandinam having “struggled’ in primary schools in nearby Caersws, Llanidloes and Newtown.
Cllr Lewis said: “For many of them Llandinam is the only hope of achieving an education level that will equip them for secondary school.”
Closing the school he said would: “sweep the carpet from underneath these children and set them back years.”
Cllr Lewis continued: “Our small class sizes allow for personalised attention and a stronger teaching relationship.”
He believed that they if the school is closed these children would be lost to the Powys education system and would be home schooled.
Cllr Lewis added that a potential development for 50 houses in the village would potentially increase the school numbers and a land ownershop issue with the land.
Cllr Lewis said: “Historic documents clearly show that the Prue-Reid family donated the field with the explicit understanding that if the school ceases to exist, the land and the buildings would return to the village and can never be sold.”
He urged all avenues to be explored including a federation with Caersws or Llanidloes primary schools before any consultation starts.
Cabinet members and council officers then to countered his arguments.
Cabinet member for education Cllr Pete Roberts (Liberal Democrat) said: “Federation was one of the options that was considered and did not meet the criteria.”
On the land issues, school transformation manager Sarah Astley said: “The latest information we have received from the legal team is that there are no restrictions on the use of the land, but we can continue to investigate that.”
On children with ALN director of education Dr Richard Jones said that schools that would receive would need to have the: “right support in place to meet the needs of those children.”
Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat) who has worked as a professional planner in the past added that the potential housing development is not a certainty.
Cllr Berriman said: “The site has come forward and we are a long way off (finalising) the LPD, and it could fall out of the proposal.
“We have allocated sites that failed to get developed in the existing LDP, so my view is that there is no guarantee of a development going forward on the site.”
The report shows that the school only has 33 pupils currently although claims have been made that the numbers could rise to 39 or even 43 from September.
Each pupil costs £7,424 when compared to the Powys average of £5,214.
The school building is also defined as “poor with major defects’ and it has a maintenance backlog estimated to cost just under £300,000 without the professional fees included.
