THE Vale Council’s borrowing costs could go up by more than £160,000 a year for the next 50 years to cover payments for the construction of a new school.
Council cabinet members were told at a meeting on Thursday, 1st May, that it will cost £63.9m to construct a new building for St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in Barry. The estimated cost of building the new school was originally £59m.
Most of the money will come from various grants and Welsh Government funding, but £3m will have to be borrowed by the council.
Photo: Vale Council.
The Vale Council’s cabinet member for education, arts and the Welsh language, Cllr Rhiannon Birch, said: “This is over the £59m construction costs we had anticipated, but there is opportunity to bring the figure down when undertaking value engineering through project delivery.
“Morgan Sindall will competitively tender the scheme to their supply chain once the design is fully complete. Once this stage 4 design has been completed they will be then in a position to receive accurate prices from their supply chain.
“As we all know, all supplies… building materials and even the cost of importing them and paying workers or skilled workers is increasing all the time.”
The council invited tenders in May 2024. The successful bidder, Morgan Sindall, issued the tender to subcontractors and the total that came back was £63.9m. The council’s share adds up to £8.987m, but £5m of this will be in the form of a net zero carbon grant that’s 100% funded by the Welsh Government.
Borrowing would result in a total revenue repayment of about £162,000 per year for the next 50 years. Cllr Birch said there is no financial commitment from the council at the moment.
St Richard Gwyn High School is the final school earmarked for development under the Vale Council’s 21st Century Schools Programme.
Photo: Vale Council.
The council leader, Cllr Lis Burnett, said there was a big discussion on the school and whether the council should put off its redevelopment until it could be afforded.
She added: “We felt that this was our final secondary school to renew in just over 10 years and we felt it had to go forward. We hope the people of the Vale will agree that an investment of £162,000 a year for the next 50 years is just what these children are worth.”
By Ted Peskett, Local Democracy Reporter
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