Plans for new nursery building at Chirk primary school backed unanimously

Plans to create a new nursery building at a local primary school has been backed unanimously by councillors.

It comes after application was submitted in April for a new purpose-built classroom for pre-school children at Ysgol y Waun in Chirk.

The development includes a modular building, which will accommodate two nursery classes – one for Welsh speakers and one for English speakers.

Speaking at a planning meeting on Monday evening, planning officer Matthew Phillips said: “Just to contrast it to mobile units that have been traditionally used as additional accommodation in schools, this is a modern prefabricated structure and the parts are brought on site, and it’s erected on site on a concrete base.

“As the elevations demonstrate they are of far higher quality and structure than traditionally has been the case with with mobile units,

“It is in a comparatively prominent location within the site but nevertheless, it will be viewed in the context of the school and it’s not inappropriate in terms of its appearance, its size, or in the context of the wider street scene.

“The site is within the World Heritage buffer zone but what I would argue here is it’s outside of the the conservation area, so it’s not within the Chirk conservation area. In terms of the the wider impact upon the World Heritage Site, it’s viewed within the context again of existing developments.

“It doesn’t impact upon the setting or the impression people would have visiting the area.”

Commenting on the plans, local councillor Frank Hemmings said the new classroom would improve the current provision.

He said: “What happens at certain times a day is you’ll see the children walked across the road from one to the other.

“So this brings everything together, the two groups, the two organisations, the nursery and the smaller children. They will be in the same building divided into two, one one side on the other.

“It’s just going to be fantastic that kind of take us into the next generation with the childcare.”

The application was backed unanimously by members of the planning committee.