The cost of a new school in Oakdale could be more than £4m over budget, according to a report by the development’s consultants.
The report by AECOM, that was due to be discussed by Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Cabinet on October 1, also said the Islwyn West School could open five months behind schedule.
The school will replace Oakdale and Pontllanfraith secondary schools and was planned to open by September 2016. Its budget is between £18m and 18.5m.
But the design recommended by AECOM will cost £21.5m, with a report to Cabinet suggesting an extra £1m could be needed to accommodate temporary classrooms, due to an expected surge in pupil numbers, and the possibility of a bigger sports hall.
A time plan also shows the school will probably not be completed until December 2016 and will open the following month, despite hopes it would be ready for the start of the 2016/17 term.
A building contractor is likely to be appointed in December, with construction beginning in May, after the council approves the total cost and budget for the project.
The school is part of the 21st Century Schools Programme that secured £26 million funding from the Welsh Government – a sum matched by Caerphilly County Borough Council.
Cllr Colin Mann, leader of the Plaid Cymru opposition group, said: “This is very worrying news. Councillors were given assurances about the timescale during discussions about the construction process. Obviously, in the present financial situation it will be extremely difficult for the authority to find another £4m.
“Residents are entitled to ask where that money will come from to meet these additional costs.”
As Caerphilly Observer went to press the Cabinet met to note the contents of the consultant’s report, but were not due to make a decision on its recommendations.
A Labour Group spokesman said they did not wish to pre-empt the Cabinet’s deliberations but said the costs mentioned are a worse-case scenario.
A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesman said: “Further work is in hand to minimise the costs as much as possible.
“The council is working with Welsh Government to re-profile the funding for Caerphilly’s overall programme so that other under-spending areas can be re-directed to the new secondary school without increasing the budget for the overall 21st Century Schools programme.
“Although every effort is being made to open the new school in September 2016, the timetable prudently identifies the risk that the school may not be complete until later in the autumn term.”
This school is going to cause a major traffic ,,,, I ride in this area , council are planning to pit up sign so traffic are aware horses are crossing, but my major concern is Argoed lane this will become a quick nip route through the lane to get to the school …..Major Traffic Accident waiting to happen,’, please make this lane ACESS ONLY
The whole project is a waste of money. Schools need to become smaller, more inclusive and provide a personal education to all children. Making them larger with thousands of pupils may be the most cost effective but no child will receive a great education in such school. The children will become ‘just another child’.
Schools need to be places where children can knock on the door of the headteacher at any time to be greeted with a cookie and friendly person welcoming them using their name. Each teacher in the school needs to know a pupil’s name, and class sizes need to be limited to 15 at the most. Only when schools return to being local educating the children in the village/immediate city can education improve. Mega comprehensive secondary schools do not work.
Sorry I must disagree, I teach Welsh, Geography and History in a school of around 1700 and there is nothing less personal there than a school of 600. If this new school is to have around the same number of pupils there are more than likely to be designated 2 subject leaders, one for ks3 and another ks4, or upper or lower school. Each subject area will save on teacher labour at about 0.5 – 1.5 teachers per subject area. How do you think that teachers could possibly fit in any more classes when they have no free lessons to begin with. We cannot physically teach larger numbers of pupils without forcing pupils to do overtime, so for, say 80 teachers, they would instead need about 60-65 in an amalgumated school and save on overheads, labour etc. There is no evidence that these larger schools don’t work (Welsh or amalgamated schools) or that they loose the personal touch. Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, Cwm Rhymni, Brynmawr Foundation and Eastern High School,(Cardiff) are all doing much better than their English medium or smaller counterparts. The bottom line is we must move forward and improve standards and save money. Caerphilly CBC is doing a better job than a lot of other local authorities especially with the pressures of improving standards and cutting budgets and staff levels. I doubt people would nip through Argoed, this would mean going out of their way to get there – the catchment areas will be Pontllanfraiths and Oakdales catchments, but Markham pupils will transfer to Blackwood Comprehensive instead, maybe Argoed’s pupils will but a bus will be provided for them anyway.