Concerns have been raised over the long-term viability of a primary school near Brecon which is set to get a new £11 million building and become a Welsh-medium school.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet on Tuesday, February 24, senior councillors received the proposal to change the Sennybridge Primary School designation from dual (English/Welsh) stream to Welsh medium.

This change would be introduced on a phased basis year by year, starting with the reception class in September 2027, but school governors want to see the move implemented a year later.

The proposals follow the decision earlier this month by Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority’s Planning Committee to grant planning permission for a new £11 million school building at Sennybridge.

Education portfolio holder, Cllr James Gibson-Watt (Liberal Democrat – Glasbury), told his colleagues that an outline business case has already been submitted to the Welsh Government to provide most of the funding for the new school building.

Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “We’re doing two things at once here; it’s a groundbreaking development in the south of the county.”

He added that the Powys county councillor for Sennybridge, Edwin Roderick (Powys Independents – Maescar and Llywel), supports the change and raised the issue of delaying its implementation until September 2028.

Cllr Gibson-Watt said that, following talks with education officers, they decided to “leave the date as is for now”.

Cllr Gibson-Watt said: “There is plenty of time for these points to be explored during the consultation process and I understand the reasons why it’s being requested.”

Council leader Cllr Jake Berriman (Liberal Democrat – Llandrindod North) agreed that the correct process is to proceed with the consultation and see “what it throws up for us”.

The current pupil numbers at the school are 114, with 63 in the Welsh-medium stream and 51 in the English-medium stream.

By January 2030 these pupil numbers are expected to drop to 83.

The school had 126 pupils in January 2020.

Cabinet member for Customers, Digital and Community Services, Cllr Raiff Devlin (Liberal Democrat – Talybont-on-Usk), said that he supported the proposal and wanted the “voice” of the headteacher, governing body and Cllr Roderick listened to as the process moves forward.

Cllr Devlin said: “The thing that concerns me is the projected pupil numbers.

“A reduction of 43 pupils over a 10-year period is considerable in that size of school and is a risk to its long-term future.

“I’m confident that moving to a Welsh-medium school will make it more attractive for the future.”

Cllr Berriman said: “You’re right to highlight the risk and we go into this open-eyed.”

Cabinet then went to a vote and unanimously agreed the proposal.