Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is now looking at building the new school to serve a major housing development in the area itself rather than the developer.
A report brought to the council’s climate change, frontline services and prosperity scrutiny committee on Wednesday, October 14, says the option for the council to commission and construct the school to serve the housing development at the former opencast coal site in Llanilid is being further explored.
Infrastructure payment agreement
An infrastructure payment agreement (IPA) was agreed in June 2019 to provide a new primary school on land at the site. Within the IPA the council previously agreed to accept the new school at the infrastructure value of £10,223,499.00 from Persimmon, who would build the school, to satisfy part of the CIL (community infrastructure levy) due from the development.
To do this the 80% strategic income and the 5% administrative income were not paid to the council in money but were kept by Persimmon and offset against the infrastructure value until the outstanding balance had been satisfied. The final instalment relating to the relevant planning application was accounted for on March 4, 2026.
Alternative delivery mechanism
The liability due for this phase did not require the full 80% strategic income and the 5% administrative income to offset the infrastructure value and it was agreed that the difference (£254,521.55 over five instalments) would be paid to the administrative CIL account.
But the report says following more recent discussions with Persimmon, and as an alternative to the delivery mechanism agreed under the 2019 IPA, the option for the council to commission and construct the school itself is being further explored. It is expected that this would require Persimmon to provide the council with a cleared site prepared ready for development, together with evidence that all ecological, ground conditions, and related investigations have been completed and appropriately addressed.
Funding and next steps
A further meeting will be held with Persimmon soon to establish agreement for the future delivery of the school. If this option is taken forward all CIL sums kept by Persimmon and offset against the infrastructure value under the IPA will need to paid to the council in full, the report adds.
Jim Bailey, the council’s head of planning, said additional funding will be required too as costs have gone up since that original agreement in 2019. He said remediation works in preparing the site plateau for the school are well under way and the scheme has been flagged with Welsh Government for funding.
