Senior Liberal Democrat and Labour Powys councillors are next week set to rubber-stamp the decision to close a village primary school campus near Brecon.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday, May 19, councillors will receive the objections report into the proposal to close the Cradoc campus of Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan on August 31.

The closure will save the council an estimated £262,000, as well as having to address £470,000 worth of backlog maintenance needed at the building.

Since merging with Mount Street Infants and Junior School in Brecon to form Ysgol Golwg Pen-y-Fan in September 2024, Cradoc has lost dozens of pupils.

In September 2024, Cradoc had 71 pupils, and the latest figures show it now has just 16.

The intention of merging the schools has always been to bring them together on one site in a new school building.

Receiving the objection report is the final legal stage of the process to close the school campus.

The statutory objections period was held from March 5 to April 2, and only one objection was lodged – but it went into great detail.

The objection centres on whether or not the correct pupil capacity calculation had been made for the site.

Figures of 175, 158 and 149 have been used over the years, with the objector claiming that no “satisfactory explanation” has been given for the change in numbers.

The objector, who has been named in the report, said: “The proposal relies on pupil capacity figures that have changed repeatedly and whose accuracy remains disputed.

“Substantive evidence submitted during consultation has not been properly addressed, the educational impact of forcing pupils to relocate twice has not been adequately assessed and reasonable alternative options have not been properly considered.

“Most importantly, the long-standing dispute regarding the true capacity of the Cradoc campus remains unresolved.

“The school must now be measured accurately and independently using Welsh Government methodology so that the true capacity of the building can finally be established.

“Until that has been done, it cannot be said with confidence that this proposal is based on accurate or reliable evidence.”

Due to these issues, the objector wants the proposal to be “reconsidered” by cabinet.

Education chiefs have rebutted the objector’s arguments throughout the report.

Powys council said: “The current process around the proposal to close the Cradoc campus of Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan has been carried out in full accordance with the requirements of the School Organisation Code.

“All information and data provided to stakeholders throughout the process has been the latest verifiable data available to the council.

“The latest review of the school’s capacity, and all previous calculations, have been carried out in accordance with the Welsh Government’s ‘Measuring the Capacity of Schools in Wales’ guidance.

“The council does not agree that there is a need for the campus to be measured independently.

“The objection will be considered by cabinet when deciding whether or not to proceed with implementation of the proposal.”

But the decision already seems a foregone conclusion, with a statement issued by the council’s education portfolio holder, Cllr James Gibson-Watt, saying that he will be recommending the closure of Cradoc.

Cllr Gibson-Watt (Liberal Democrat – Glasbury) said: “This proposal has not been made lightly, but we believe it provides greater certainty ahead of the move to the new school building for Ysgol Golwg Pen y Fan.”

The council has appointed Willmott Dixon as the main contractor for the new school building in Brecon.