COUNTY council officials will meet this week to discuss the “significant risk” of partnering with the Church in Wales to establish a hotly-debated new superschool in Bala.

Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet will meet on Tuesday, 14 February, to consider whether to re-visit the decision to open a 3-19 Learning Campus in conjunction with the religious group.

This follows recent debates between Gwynedd Council officers, the Diocese of St Asaph, Y Berwyn catchment-area governors and local members.

In recent weeks, Bala councillor Dilwyn Morgan has asked the Church to “step back gracefully” from the project, preferring a community school with no church affiliation, whereas Church in Wales have consistently reaffirmed their “full commitment” to the new school.

A report was submitted to the Gwynedd cabinet on 13 December 2016, seeking permission to consult with the governing bodies of Y Berwyn catchment area schools on the option to abandon the proposal to establish a Voluntary Controlled (VC, Church in Wales)school in Bala.

The cabinet decided in that meeting to defer consideration of the recommendation in the report in order to consider the latest correspondence received from the Church in Wales and legal advice.

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