NEWPORT City Councillors will decide on Monday [December 8] whether to put the plan for a new £17m Welsh-medium school forward to the Welsh Government.

The proposals would see the site at Duffryn High School developed to include a Welsh-medium school building which would house 900 pupils.

Currently the school is made up of three school blocks, two of which would continue to be used for English medium education for 1,200 pupils and the remaining block for Welsh-medium pupils. It is understood both schools would operate separately but share use of the Sports Hall.

A meeting of the council cabinet on Monday, December 8 will decide whether to submit an Outline Business Case for the project to the Welsh Government.

If city councillors decide to approve the submission of the plan, Newport City Council will be committed to financing £8m towards the plan, with Monmouthshire County Council contributing £500,000. The Welsh Government will then match the £8.5m figure.

Currently secondary school pupils travel of Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw in Pontypool but the school is set to be oversubscribed by September, 2016.

The Pontypool school serves pupils from Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire, Torfaen and Newport but oversubscription will limit admissions of children from outside Torfaen.

Under the proposals the new school, which is yet to be named, will cover the catchment area of the city of Newport and south Monmouthshire.

The proposed new Welsh-medium secondary school is planned to open in September 2016 with approximately 86 pupils within a “seedling” school.

The Outline Business Case will calculate cost estimates and timelines for each stage of the project. If the Welsh Government approve the project, a Full Business Case will be put forward by May 2015.