A community has come together to try to buy the site of a former school, as its fate ‘hangs in the balance’.

The historic Ysgol Pontfadog site, in the Ceiriog Valley, which was closed in 2019, was put up for auction by Wrexham Council and as things stand the land will go to the highest bidder at the end of March 2023.

The school was a part of the community for 110 years before its closure, a decision that saw 1,300 letters of objection from those who wanted the school to stay open. 

Now, locals have banded together to raise funds in a bid to buy the site and have formed a Community Interest Company.

The plan is to acquire the site for use as a Forest School and Community Hub, and the group wants Wrexham Council to consider the added value they can offer in addition to any cash they can raise.

It is expected that the Forest School and Community Hub could create up to 10 local jobs in the short term and many more over time, with their ideas around a marketing hub for Ceiriog Valley products.

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To give your support, you can sign their petition, to help vote for community ownership, enterprise, and action, wherever you live.

They argue that a prominent roadside café and museum could entice more visitors to the valley, increase prospects for local residents and create more employment opportunities.

The group said: "Support for the community project is wide-ranging, in particular from heritage organisations who are telling Wrexham Council that conservation of the historic building will have the greatest positive environmental impact on the local community.

"Alongside these economic and environmental benefits, the social impact on the community of Pontfadog is indisputable – improved early years development through the forest school, spaces for residents to meet from cradle to grave, the well-being of teenagers, in particular, will be greatly improved by keeping the local playing field for their use."