Give feedback on this page

Introduction

Ysgol Bro Elwern is the local primary school for the village of Gwyddelwern, and currently has 29 pupil places with 6 nursery places.  The village also has a hall which is used by the community for all of the usual activities associated with village life, from organised groups through to private hire.  Ysgol Bro Elwern has no school hall or designated dining area, and so they use the village hall for PE and for their school performances.  The children have to walk through the village to reach the hall, which means that the school tends not to utilise the facility when the weather is poor.  The village hall also requires significant investment to bring it up to an acceptable standard.

Key Elements of the scheme

The proposal is to construct a shared use (school/community) hall as an extension to the existing school building.  This new facility will provide:

• A new multi functional village hall with a demountable stage

• A new school kitchen
• Toilets and storage

Because this scheme will significantly increase the school’s floor space there will probably be a requirement to replace the existing oil-fired boiler.  With the current cost of oil and looking to the future, low carbon options such as thermal panels, biomass boilers and ground source heat pumps are being investigated.

On completion, it is intended that the existing village hall site will be sold.  Consideration is also being given to creating a new community playground across the road from the existing playground as part of the scheme.

Benefits of the scheme

The new village facility will deliver the following benefits:

• The pupils of Ysgol Bro Elwern will enjoy a better quality, and safer environment in which to learn, to undertake Physical Education and to perform concerts and plays.
• The project will give Denbighshire County Council the opportunity to pilot some innovative design and technology solutions towards achieving zero carbon buildings.
• The pupils and community will have an opportunity to learn more about low carbon building technology and be able to see some of the benefits in action.
• The community will have an opportunity to focus fund raising activity around a new and exciting initiative.
• The project provides opportunities for a more diverse range of community activities to take place.
• The capacity of the school will be increased to 51 pupil places with 6 nursery places.
• The provision of a new kitchen located next to the hall will significantly improve the catering provision and the dining arrangements for the children.

Budget

The budget for the project is £0.5 million, with funding provided by the Welsh Assembly Government and Denbighshire County Council.

Timescales

Mar 2009 – start on site
Aug 2009 – completion of building works
Sep 2009 – building operational

Latest News

A public meeting was held on the 16 July. A visioning exercise ensured that all suggestions and ideas were captured, and 14 local people signed up to be part of the steering group for the new facility. If anyone else would like to help out with this community initiative please contact Sian Owen o’n 01824 706202

This page was last updated on 01/10/08