FIRST of all, it is necessary to declare an interest: I am a parent of pupils past and present at Duffryn High School in Newport.

It is important to state this, in case at any point during the following 800-odd words, I betray an element of bias. That may prove impossible, but I will try my best.

Let's start with something positive, difficult enough after events this week have conspired to dash yet again the hopes of a school community - its pupils, its teachers and support staff, its parents.

The run-up to, and aftermath of, the meeting of Newport council's planning committee - whose members put the brakes on the local authority's own plan to create a Welsh medium secondary school on part of the Duffryn High School site, and to redevelop the existing school - have been characterised by endless comment about the pros and cons of Welsh medium education, the right to have one's children taught in the medium of Welsh, and the perceived lack of choice over whether or not children are taught in Welsh (from an English language perspective).

All of which has been depressingly wide of the point at issue.

Given that context, it was thus heartening indeed to find that this misplaced debate had no place in the vigorous discussion that took place at the school on Thursday evening, during an emergency parents' meeting.

Don't get me wrong, it was not a particularly pleasant occasion, but it enabled the real concerns of parents, pupils and staff to be aired in an arena free of distracting dogma.

What we learned during that meeting was that the planning committee's refusal of planning permission, in line with the recommendation of city planners, has not only scuppered the creation of a Welsh medium school at the Duffryn High site, and the much-needed major overhaul of the existing school.

It has also rendered impossible - or at least highly illogical, based on the reasons for refusal - the likelihood of any new school-related building going up on that site, however small.

Should there, in a greener, not-too-distant future, be a need for even a new bike shed at Duffryn High to cope with the rising demand for storing an increasingly popular mode of transport for pupils, then it is difficult to see how such a development could be approved in the light of this week's decision. As for new classrooms, surely no chance.

A lovely (if such things can be called lovely) new entrance for the Welsh-school-that-will-never-be has been more or less completed off Duffryn Way. Apparently we will be told in due course how much this deceptive portal to a brave new educational world has cost.

And given that the Welsh-school-that-will-never-be was due to take in its first pupils next September, I am assuming that a headteacher has been appointed. Again, hopefully we will be told.

Parents, staff and pupils at Thursday evening's meeting reasonably want to know what the future holds for Duffryn High School, and city education chief James Harris sought to assure us - without much success - that there will be investment in the school's infrastructure. No, honestly.

He admitted however, that as the council had no Plan B, either for a Welsh medium secondary school or the redevelopment of the existing Duffryn High, it is, in effect, starting again.

It is important here, to reiterate to those who insist on seeing this saga as a fight between good/evil Welsh medium education and good/evil English-based education, that in the Duffryn plan each held the key to the other's success.

Yes, the need for a Welsh medium secondary school was the driver for the proposed redevelopment of the existing high school, but both have now fallen.

The late submission of Natural Resources Wales' objections on the grounds of a flood risk, and the council's seeming lack of consideration of that issue as a potentially insurmountable obstacle, have been and will continue to be, fiercely debated.

But for now, let's invoke the spirit of Malcolm Tucker - leave out the swear words - call it an omnishambles, and leave it at that.

Ultimately though, we cannot leave it at that.

Somehow, from somewhere, a refurbishment plan must be drawn up, and the money - significant, seven-figures-style money - must be found, to give Duffryn High School the lift it deserves.

If the passion and commitment, and the eloquence with which parents, staff and pupils at that meeting spoke about their school, even from the depths of their frustration and disappointment, could be translated into cash, Duffryn High School's gold-framed whiteboards would glow bright in the sun.

But sadly, such alchemy is impossible - and so we await developments from the inside of the box that Newport council should now be endeavouring to think outside of.