Posted on: Wednesday 21 February 2024
Torfaen’s Cabinet committee have approved the replacement and expansion of Maendy Primary School by awarding a £14 million construction contract to Morgan Sindall.
The construction of the new school buildings, including childcare and flying start facilities, will start in March 2024 and is scheduled to be completed by the summer of 2025.
Pupils will continue learning in the existing school buildings until construction of the new school is complete. The old school buildings will then be demolished, and the school grounds landscaped with two playgrounds, a forest school zone, play equipment and a grass sports pitch.
The investment is part of the council’s approved capital programme and is the next project to be delivered in the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme (SCfL), formerly known as the 21st Century school and colleges programme.
Cllr Richard Clark, Torfaen Council’s Executive Member for Children, Families & Education, said: “As everyone knows, inflation has added significant costs to all major construction projects, so I’m really pleased that by re-engineering the work with the developer, construction of the school remains within the budget we set in 2022.
“The school will also help achieve the council’s energy aspirations with the school design achieving Net Zero Carbon with low embodied carbon. The school will be all electric and powered by air source heat pumps and photovoltaic roof mounted panels.”
The total cost of the new school with pre-construction work and design is £17,131,842 with the council contributing £5,220,608. The Welsh Government has committed funding for the remainder with £10,790,865 from the SCfL programme and £1,120,369 from the Childcare Capital Grant.
As part of the former 21st Century Schools Programme, the council has committed nearly £130 million on new, extended and refurbished schools since 2015.