A report recommending that the Vale of Glamorgan cabinet approve the proposal to increase the number of primary school places in Cowbridge will be heard by tomorrow.

The proposals include changing the age range of Cowbridge Comprehensive School from 11 - 19 to 3 - 19; increasing the capacity of Cowbridge Comprehensive School to accommodate 210 English medium primary school places with an additional 48 part-time nursery places; and constructing a new school building on the Cowbridge Comprehensive School site to accommodate the primary and nursery places.

The report recommends that cabinet approves the proposal, which would increase the capacity of Cowbridge Comprehensive School from 1,586 to 1,796 places, and considers the design and construction of the new building set out in Part II of the report.

A statutory notice was published on 13 January. The Council received 92 objections by the end of the 28-day objection period, 37 of which did not provide reasons for their objection.

Reasons for objecting included that there was no evidence that an 'all-through' model has any benefits, concerns over primary pupils being around older students, the lack of a head teacher for the primary phase, unfairness of admissions arrangements, and insufficient infrastructure around Cowbridge Comprehensive.

Other objections were themed around Y Bont Faen, saying it was in poor repair and should be expanded or used as an alternative site for the new primary school.

Cllr Geoff Cox submitted a formal objection on behalf of the local ward members for Cowbridge stating: "Geoff Cox, Hunter Jarvie and Andrew Parker, Vale of Glamorgan councillors for Cowbridge ward, object to the proposals for an all through school to accommodate the projected increase in demand for English medium primary education in the Cowbridge area.

"We objected when this was first mooted in November 2019 and still hold to these views. Our belief is that primary education is better served by expanding Y Bont Faen as a stand-alone school and with its management responsibility for administration and control."

The report states that the main driver for the proposal is to meet increased demand for English medium primary education in Cowbridge as a result of recent and proposed housing developments.

"Y Bont Faen Primary School has previously been oversubscribed from catchment applications. In September 2019, the school breached its admission number to accommodate an additional 10 catchment pupils," reads the report.

"As the increased demand is being generated from within the existing catchment area for Y Bont Faen Primary School, both Y Bont Faen and the proposed primary phase of the 3-19 school would share a catchment area.

"This would avoid creating an unnecessary divide within the Cowbridge community by splitting the town into two separate catchment areas.

"When applying for school places, parents/carers are able to identify more than one preference. Those residents within the catchment area would be able to apply for both schools to minimise the chance of not being allocated a place."

The council estimates that the total capital funding required to build a new school, including the installation of utilities services and highways provision, would be £5 million.

The project would be funded by the VOG Council with money previously allocated to the 21st Century Schools programme.

The estimated revenue cost of operating the school in the first year would be £5.474m, excluding post-16 pupils which are funded by a Welsh Government Grant. This would rise to £5.870m when the school reaches full capacity.

The council received five design and building tenders from contractors by the deadline on Monday 8 February 2021.

A further report would be presented to Cabinet in October 2021 when the full build cost has been established.

Read the full report HERE .