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Call for talks over additional needs school U-turn

BBC Protestsor wearing white shirts and holding a banner saying save ysgol heol goffaBBC
Parents held a protest before a county council meeting in Carmarthen on Wednesday

A controversial U-turn over plans for a new school for pupils with additional learning needs has sparked a request for talks over the decision.

Children's commissioner for Wales Rocio Cifuentes said she wanted clarification from Carmarthenshire council about how young people in Llanelli could be affected.

The council's reversal in May of a 2017 promise to fund a new £10m school for pupils of Heol Goffa led to protests by parents and governors.

The council blamed "soaring" costs of the project.

In May, the council said it was instead "committed to exploring the delivery of alternative facilities on different sites"

Ms Cifuentes has written to the council seeking a meeting "to thoroughly establish and clarify the details about the proposed plans and their potential impact on children and young people".

She added: "All children have a right to a say in the decisions that affect them and we’ll be meeting directly with the school council so that we can effectively share their views and experiences with decision makers."

Parents held another protest outside County Hall in Carmarthen before a full council meeting on Wednesday morning.

protestors hold up a mural sign says Ysgol Heol Goffa protect care and love
Parents have called on the council to reverse its decision

A petition with 5,000 signatures calling for a new school was presented to the council by Aimee Evans, whose son Cameron, 13, has been a pupil at Heol Goffa for 10 years.

She told the meeting the current building "was not fit for purpose" and questioned why other schools were getting "new buildings and facilities".

Parent wearing a white protest shirt in front of a group of protestors
Aimee Evans, a parent with a child at Heol Goffa, says the decision was "not in the best interests of the community"

She told councillors her son would "not cope without the full support" he had at Heol Goffa.

She added that the current school was "bursting at the seems," parts of which were not accessible to pupils who used wheelchairs and urged councillors to reconsider.

In a joint statement with the school, the council said it would "work collaboratively to develop a plan to provide the very best facilities for all additional learning needs pupils in Llanelli".

It added that an independent review of additional learning needs specialist provision in Llanelli would start in autumn 2024 and any future plans would "be subject to a full public consultation".

Independent councillor Rob James told the meeting the whole county needed a "21st Century additional learning needs-specific school".

Google Ysgol Heol Goffa, LlanelliGoogle
Council leader Darren Price has said no decision has been made to close the current school

Rebecca Thomas, whose son Harley has been at Heol Goffa for five years, said he would not be able to get the same help in a regular school.

"They’ve really encouraged him to interact and mix with other children," she said.

"He wouldn’t be able to have that one-on-one time to get him the confidence to do that anywhere else."