COUNCILLORS in Newport could agree to postpone the opening of a new primary school at Glan Llyn until 2019 this week.

Work on the school at the former Llanwern steelworks site began in September 2017 with a view to opening the following September.

But a council report says the developer St. Modwen will hand over the building at the end of August, leaving the council with little time to complete fixtures, fittings and equipment (FF&E) works before opening.

The proposal to postpone the school’s opening was put out to consultation and drew 15 objections.

Councillor Gail Giles, cabinet member for education skills, had been due to sign off on the decision but the number of objections received means full cabinet will have the final say on Wednesday.

Of the objections, 13 were from Glan Llyn residents raising concerns over the delay, with the remaining two coming from stakeholders within the Welsh-medium education sector.

The council say youngsters can be accommodated at schools within the Lliswerry and Llanwern clusters should the plan be approved, with around 105 surplus places estimated for the 2018/19 academic year.

A cabinet report reads: “The recent experiences of the council in opening a new school supports the need for, where possible, a longer timeframe for the effective establishment of the school in terms of the appointment of staff and the procurement of resources.”

Regarding complaints over language provision, the report suggests that families wanting their child to learn within the Welsh medium to send them to Ysgol Gymraeg Casnewydd.

“[Ysgol Cymraeg Casnewydd] is just over two miles away from the proposed new school and at the time of consultation there were vacancies in all year groups from reception to Year Six,” the report says.

“Whilst spaces also exist in English-medium schools in the vicinity, the percentage of surplus places is lower in the English-medium estate as a whole.

“As a result, a decision was taken to evidence the English-medium schools in the locality.”

As an English-medium school, Glan Llyn would accommodate 420 pupils aged from three years to 11 years from the catchment area.

Opening the school in 2019 is estimated to cost the council £119,000 during the current financial year, a report shows.

Cabinet members will be presented two options at this week's meeting: the preferred option, to postpone the opening to September 2019, or press on with the original 2018 opening.