GWYNEDD Council looks set to abandon plans to work with the Church in Wales on Bala’s new super school.

The council’s cabinet has voted unanimously in favour of a proposal which may see Bala’s new super school become a ‘community’ school with little or no church influence.

Governing bodies of Ysgol Bro Tegid and Ysgol Y Berwyn, whose pupils will go to the new all-through learning facility, have both sent letters to Gwynedd Council announcing their desire not to work with the Church in Wales, suggesting they had “no faith” in it.

The council cabinet, which met on Tuesday afternoon, also noted that a petition handed to the council had collected over 1,000 signatures suggesting there was “unease” in the community about the new superschool having a religious aspect.

The recommendation, accepted by the cabinet, says the county will now “consult with the governing bodies of the schools of Y Berwyn catchment-area, on the option to abandon the proposal to establish a Voluntary Controlled School in Bala”.

The recommendation does not necessarily mean the current proposal will not go ahead, simply that the governors will be consulted before any further decisions are made.

However, as the schools have already voiced their displeasure about the church’s inclusion, it seems likely that the future of the super school will go back to a public consultation.

Read the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News