A MAJOR expansion of a special school in Cwmbran has been given the go-ahead after following months of consultation.

Crownbridge School in Croesyceiliog will be expanded by 50 places after the Torfaen council cabinet member for education, Cllr Richard Clark, made the final decision.

The move will increase the school's intake to 130 pupils.

Crownbridge caters for children with severe and profound learning difficulties, and has a primary department based at Penygarn Community Primary School in Pontypool, which caters for children aged two-11years.

The secondary department moved to its then new Croesyceiliog site from its former base at Sebastopol, Pontypool, back in 2012, at which time 80 places were deemed sufficient to meet demand.

But a Torfaen County Borough Council report on the expansion proposal stated that the school has been oversubscribed for the last few years, leading to some children being refused places.

When students cannot be catered for within the county borough, some are being sent out to a private provider, which can cost the council up to £90,000 a year, compared to an in-house cost of £32,000.

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Such have been the pressures of oversubscription in recent years that some specialist areas and meeting rooms at the Crownbridge's Croesyceiliog site have been repurposed to enable 95 pupils to be on the roll

But it had got to the stage where the only answer - given that demand is expected to increase further - was to seek a more permanent solution.

The council report says the extra 50 places will save £2.9 million a year if all are taken up.

The expansion is set to be completed by January 2024.

The application process included two consultation periods, where no formal objections were received in relation to the plans.

The expansion project is expected to cost £6.9m, of which 75 per cent will be funded by the Welsh Government, and 25 per cent by Torfaen County Borough Council.

According to the consultation documents, the Crownbridge School’s governing body said they were “delighted” with the proposals and “fully support the expansion plans”.