Proposal to Demolish Former Primary School in Brecon Village Approved by Powys Planners

A PROPOSAL to demolish a former primary school at a village near Brecon has been given the green light by Powys planners.
This will help pave the way for Powys County Council to build 17 affordable homes at the site of the former Bronllys primary school.
Council planners approved a “non-material amendment” application to allow the building to be demolished.
In September 2021, plans from the councils housing service to build a mix of one, two, three and four-bedroomed homes and two adapted bungalows at the former primary school site were approved by councillors on the council’s Planning committee.
Planning officer Lorraine Jenkin explained that a number of conditions were included in the planning permission that need to be “discharged” before building work can begin.
Ms Jenkin said: “The former school building is becoming a safety hazard with security/vandalism issues occurring and degeneration of the building fabric with elements falling off.
“This seeks to amend the conditions of the consent to allow the demolition of the building to occur before the other conditions have been discharged.”
She believed that due to the safety issues at the school and the danger to people that could break into the building, it would be a “positive advantage” to the scheme to flatten the former school.
Ms Jenkin added: “No bats were found to be present in the building and therefore none could be hurt.
“It is therefore considered that no third party body would be disadvantaged from the amendment of the scheme in the proposed way.
“Th proposed amendment to the original permission is considered to be acceptable and is recommended for approval.”
But before any building work can start another issue with the site needs to be sorted out.
In April 202O a village green application was lodged with the council for part of the site by the Bronllys Green Group.
In April 2022 the council’s housing service formally opposed the village green application- this is because if it is approved it would “impact” the number of houses that can be built there.
This created a conflict of interest for Powys as the council is legally obliged to decide town and village green applications.
At a Planning committee meeting in August 2022 councillors agreed with an officer recommendation that an independent planning inspector is brought in to look at the village green application.
The planning inspector would prepare a report which would be brought back in front of councillors at the Planning committee meeting for a decision.
A spokesman for Powys County Council said:  “The case is with Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), and we are awaiting a date for a hearing into the matter.”
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “PEDW has received the case, an inspector and inquiry date will be assigned in due course.”
Chairman of Bronllys Green Group, Terry Hurford said: “The village green is still an issue.
Mr Hurford added that the council’s scheme would take away half of the children’s playground which has been an integral part of the village since 1972.
Bronllys along with Talgarth Primary School, closed its doors on August 31, 2017, as part of a school reorganisation programme in Powys.
A new 150 place community primary school, Ysgol Y Mynydd Du was opened in Talgarth to take pupils from both schools. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​