PLANS for a £28 million expansion of Bassaleg School in Newport will move to the consultation stage.

Newport City Council had previously considered a proposal to increase the overall capacity of the secondary school from 1,747 to 2,050 by September 2023. As part of this expansion, a building replacement project is also proposed to create the space for additional pupils.

Now the plans have moved a step closer after the council’s cabinet member for education, Cllr Gail Giles, agreed to a consultation with stakeholders on the proposal.

This will mean head teachers, parents and prospective parents would all be consulted on the proposals, which would be part-funded by the Welsh Government’s 21st Century Schools programme.

The Welsh Government would fund £16 million of the cost, while the city council would provide the remaining £12 million through borrowing and developer contributions from two new housing developments.

The scheme has been proposed to meet the increased demand from families in the school’s catchment area following the opening of Jubilee Park Primary School in September 2017.

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Currently the community-maintained school can take 270 new pupils into Year 7 each year, however this no longer meets the demands.

Therefore, the proposed capacity of 2,050 students at the school would mean an increase of 50 in each year group. This would enable the school to accept 330 Year 7 students each year.

Because of the coronavirus restrictions, there will be no public drop-in sessions as part of the consultation.

Instead questions could be submitted to the education service, with officers responding within a seven-day period.

The consultation is expected to take place at some point in the autumn term of 2020 and will last for 42 days.