Wrexham Council is looking to sell the former Pontfadog school site on the open market.

The 110 year-old Ceiriog Valley based school shut its doors for the final time in July 2019 after the decision had been made by the authority to close it in 2018. The building has remained vacant since then.

The decision to close the school was made by members of the council’s ruling independent/Conservative administration due to dwindling pupil numbers, despite strong opposition from residents.

After the closure, the community was given a say on how the land should be used in the future, with the option of selling it to a social landlord to provide affordable housing being the preferred choice.

A report to be considered by the Executive Board says that the site had since been offered to Registered Social Landlords (RSL) to look at the potential development of the site for affordable housing.

The Leader: Concerned parties outside Ysgol Pontfadog calling for the school to remain open as is and not to close the school or amalgamate it with others nearby..cc010218C.

They did receive one proposal from an RSL but this was deemed “unviable” by the council’s planning department, and the RSL decided the site was no longer of interest.

Now a recommendation is going to the Executive Board to authorise the council’s Chief Housing Officer to negotiate terms and conditions with a view to selling on the open market.

The report states: “The School is surplus to the requirements of the Council and therefore disposal of the site is recommended.

“A disposal of the site will relieve the Council of its future maintenance obligations for an empty Council property and generate a capital receipt should a sale be achieved.

“Since its closure, the building has remained vacant and has started to deteriorate showing evidence of damp..

The Leader: Young protestors L>R Morgan Edwards, Amber Boston and Tomos Humphreys.Protest against proposed closure of Ysgol Pontfadog.Two Protests at The Wrexham Guildhall this morning, one on the closure of Ysgol Pontfadog and one for the redundancies at Ysgol Gwers

“The site was offered to a number of RSLs to submit scheme proposals to the Council for the potential development for affordable housing. This followed the resolution as agreed at the Executive Board meeting dated February 9, 2021.

“The Council received one scheme proposal for the site, however, further investigation into unit numbers, flood risk, phosphates and other matters deemed the proposal was unviable by the RSL and their interest has subsequently been withdrawn.”

It adds: “The building is in a poor state of repair and will only deteriorate further should it remain vacant and result in the Council incurring further costs to manage the premises.”

Wrexham Council’s Executive Board will make a decision at their meeting on Tuesday (November 8).