Delivered by Halsall Construction on behalf of Persimmon, the new primary school will be the first provided as part of Cardiff’s Local Development Plan (LDP) and will become the brand-new home for St Mellons Church in Wales Primary School, which will relocate from its current site in Llanrumney.
The new build school will serve parts of Pontprennau and Old St Mellons and be located east of the Pontprennau link road. It will be a 1 form entry, accommodating 210 pupils including a 48-place part-time nursery with the opportunity to expand to a 2 form entry (420 place) in the future. There will be a community facility linked to the school with private entrance and interconnecting entrance providing benefits to the wider community.
Work will commence in January 2022.
Lee Woodfine, Managing Director at Persimmon Homes East Wales, said: “We are delighted that the new primary school at our St Edeyrns development has today taken this significant step forward. We are proud to be delivering this tremendous new facility for the children of St Mellons, Pontprennau and Llanrumney.
“Our St Edeyrns development continues to be a huge success and hundreds of families are already enjoying living there, many of which are first-time buyers taking the first step onto the property ladder.
“This project has always been focussed on creating a new community. As well as the primary school there will be local shops, allotments and a community orchard.”
Cabinet Member for Education Employment and Skills, Cllr Sarah Merry said: “This is an exciting milestone for the school which when complete, will provide staff and pupils with a modern, state-of-the-art learning environment to inspire.
“The housing development at St Edeyrns is already very popular, generating a significant increase in the demand for school places in the area. The new school will have a community focus providing opportunities for local people to access facilities as well ensuring availability of school places.”
The current St Mellons Primary School in Llanrumney is in the process of establishing a new nursery provision which will provide 32 part-time places and will be open for pupils from September 2022.
Headteacher Jane Marches said: “Everyone at St Mellons CIW Primary is very pleased to hear that plans for our new school are progressing. As we celebrate this new chapter in the school’s history, we will be building on a foundation of many happy memories of school life in Llanrumney and Old St Mellons.
“We look forward to growing and to all the opportunities this will offer our pupils, families and the local community. We hope to be a key facility at the heart of the community and will be keen to welcome all to our school family.”
“In the meantime, we are also excited to be establishing new nursery provision, providing the youngest members of our community with the chance to join our St Mellons Primary School family.”
Relocating St Mellons Primary School to the new build school at St Edeyrns is a strategic solution to rebalance primary school provision in parts of North East Cardiff due to the issue of surplus primary school places in the Llanrumney area and the need for additional places in Old St Mellons and parts of Pontprennau, when the St Edeyrn’s housing development is complete.
Andy Corp, Managing Director of Halsall Construction said: “We are to delighted to be working with Persimmon once again on what will be a fantastic school and a great community hub. We have a long, established relationship with Persimmon and are excited to be able to deliver them a great project.”
St Edeyrn’s is a development in the North East of the city as part of Cardiff’s Local Development Plan (LDP), which sets out the infrastructure required to facilitate and sustain the city’s growth up to 2026.
It was agreed that the school would be built by Persimmon as part of the planning agreement with the Council, and funded through Section 106 contributions.
Subject to procurement, construction of the new school is expected to be ready for occupation by Easter 2023.