Council spent over £1.7m on now-dropped plans to move special school

AUTHORITY SAYS IT REMAINS COMMITTED TO OVERALL £31M PROJECT

- By RICHARD EVANS Local Democracy Reporter

DENBIGHSHIRE County Council has spent more than £1.7 million on plans to move a special school to a site in Denbigh, which have now been abandoned.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed the authority spent the seven-figure sum on plans for a new school building to consolidate Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn on to one site at Ystrad Road.

The school - currently based on four separate sites in the town - specialises in educating children and teenagers with autism aged between three and 19.

According to the council's website, the new school would have increased capacity from 116 to 220 pupils. The new purpose-built school was planned for the sports field next to Denbigh Leisure centre on Ystrad Road, a field currently used by Denbigh High School.

These plans were "paused" after opposition during a consultation, and the authority said it would conduct a feasibility study on alternative site options for Ysgol Plas Brondyffryn and it remains "committed to the £31m project."