It has been confirmed that Morgan Sindall, who have been working on the pre-construction and design phases of the project, will continue to work on the second phase incorporating the main school build and the associated sewer works. As part of pre-construction site investigation works it was discovered that a Welsh Water sewer would need to be diverted to allow the construction of the school. Work will begin on site within the next two weeks and the aim is to complete the £8million new school in time to open in the autumn term of 2019. Work on the main building of the school will begin in July.
The new school will welcome pupils from the Bryngwyn Road and Queen Street campuses of Abertillery Learning Community, giving them access to a modern learning environment with outdoor facilities. The work is part of the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools Programme which aims to bring the school estate in Wales up to modern educational standards.
The Full Council unanimously supported putting extra capital funds into the project to meet a shortfall in funds, caused mainly by the costs of the additional sewer works.
Councillor Clive Meredith, Blaenau Gwent Council’s Executive Member for Education says:
“The former Six Bells Colliery site has been earmarked for educational or leisure development since the 1990s, so it is wonderful to see this project progressing to the next stage. The build, as with a lot of projects of this size, has experienced a few delays but we have remained committed to delivering this much-needed new school for the children and young people of Six Bells and surrounding areas.
As a Council, we also took the time to work closely with nominated representatives from the local area to address any concerns they had over access to the Guardian Memorial and parking, as we considered this an important part of engaging with the community.
The Six Bells Primary is a key part of the 21st Century Schools modernisation programme and of the Council’s continued drive to improve education standards here in Blaenau Gwent and raise the aspirations of our children and young people.”
The design of the new school will be in keeping with the environment of the local area which is of significant historical and cultural importance to Blaenau Gwent.
The Abertillery Learning Community opened in September 2016 and saw five schools in the Abertillery area come together as one 3 -16 Learning Community, but retaining existing sites. The schools that came together were Abertillery Comprehensive (now secondary campus); Abertillery Primary (now Tillery St Campus); Bryngwyn Primary (now Bryngwyn Rd Campus); Queen Street Primary (now Queen St Campus) and Roseheyworth Millennium School (now Roseheyworth Rd Campus).