PLANS to expand a special school in Ebbw Vale have moved a step closer after councillors gave the green light for a public consultation.

Blaenau Gwent council’s executive committee unanimously agreed to a consultation on plans to increase the capacity of Pen y Cwm Special School from 120 to 175 places.

If given the go-ahead, then the proposal could be implemented in September.

Under the proposal, the council will remodel the existing learning environment to create more classroom spaces and facilities including toilets.

Specific works could include relocating the post-16 area, relocating the office space, creating two primary classrooms, create an additional secondary classroom and redevelopment the science and technology room.

The council would also develop a long-term plan to increase capacity to meet future demand.

A report on the proposal says: “Should nothing change, the local authority will be unable to meet the needs of all learners particularly those with profound and multiple learning difficulties within Blaenau Gwent.

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“Therefore, they would need to be placed out of county at significant additional cost, outside of their community and with increased travel time.”

Concerns were raised in an education scrutiny committee over whether these plans are enough.

In that meeting Cllr Tommy Smith asked whether it is “going to be sufficient capacity or is the school going to be oversubscribed in the near future”.

He also asked whether more places should be freed up now rather than in the future.

The director of education at Blaenau Gwent council, Lynn Phillips, said the focus had been on dealing with the demand that “we can see for the foreseeable future”.

Currently the council has 20 additional learning needs pupils that are educated out of the local authority area, costing £896,000.

The report says: “If Pen y Cwm Special School was able increase capacity, there would be opportunities to consider making education provision for some of the 20 pupils back in Blaenau Gwent.”

The expansion could cost around £250,000, which would be met by the capital maintenance grant and the Welsh Government’s additional learning needs grant funding.

The report says the school population has grown by almost 30 per cent since relocating to a new building in November 2012.

It says: “As a result, there is no flexible space and each of the specialist areas (including the specialist rooms for Secondary age teaching and learning) have had to be reconfigured to facilitate general teaching spaces for additional pupils.”

The consultation will run from Monday (April 26) until June 6.