The long-awaited planning application for the new Machnylleth all-ages school building will be submitted in the next two to three weeks.

It was announced at the full Machynlleth Town Council meeting yesterday (26 February) that plans are ready to be submitted to the Powys County Council planning portal imminently, when they will then be available for public viewing and comments.

As part of the new development, it was proposed at the Town Council meeting to widen the public footpath running from Machynlleth’s high street Heol Maengwyn's old gated Y Plas entrance, through Y Plas grounds to the council buildings to encourage “active travel” to school and drive school foot and cycle traffic off the main high street.

The plan would widen the footpath to nearly three metres and create “formal crossing points” from Y Plas car park to the school at the south end of the town.

A Powys County Council worker said at the meeting said: “We’ll be adding lighting to the footpath and additional benches. For the addition of path lighting we will need to consider bat transit lines, but with careful selection with ecologists as part of the planning process, we believe we can come to a good design that won’t adversely affect bats. I see this as an enhancement for the community if done sensitively.”

The footpath proposal will go ahead if Machynlleth Town Council approves the plans, which will be discussed at a later date.

The plans for the new building at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen originally proposed in 2017 were due for completion in 2020. The plans however faced significant delays after the main contractor for the project, Dawnus Construction Ltd, collapsed.

The new school building was set to cost £48 million in 2020, but due to rising costs had shot up to £66 million in 2022.

A renewed plan was adjusted, losing original ideas for a library and leisure facilities and now stands to cost an estimated £49 million, 65 per cent of which will be funded directly by the Welsh government.

The new plan will create a new 540-place all-age school at the Ysgol Bro Hyddgen secondary school site to replace the current primary and secondary school buildings.