CARMARTHENSHIRE — Gareth Beer MS, Member of the Senedd for Sir Gaerfyrddin, has formally called on Carmarthenshire County Council to halt its proposed closure of Ysgol Bancffosfelen, accusing the authority of cruel short-term thinking that will rip the heart out of the local community while heaping unprecedented financial pressure on family budgets.
A detailed dossier submitted by the Ysgol Bancffosfelen Parent and Community Action Group highlights a complete contradiction in policy: while local authorities champion active travel and walking to school, this closure jettisons those promises the moment it becomes convenient. Closing the thriving 51-pupil village school will force young families out of safe, healthy walking habits and directly onto steep, narrow valley roads.
With petrol and diesel prices relentlessly climbing, forcing parents into mandatory daily school runs is an unreasonable extra tax on hardworking households already struggling to balance breaking budgets.
Furthermore, receiving facilities at Ysgol Pontyberem are already supporting over 210 pupils, facing class sizes approaching statutory caps and dangerous peak-hour traffic bottlenecks.
A Statement from Gareth Beer MS:
“The proposal to close Ysgol Bancffosfelen is a textbook example of short-sighted administrative centralisation overriding the real needs of our people. The hypocrisy abounds. We are constantly told to encourage active travel and walking to school, yet here we see a policy that completely abandons those values—forcing young children off safe walking routes and forcing parents into expensive, mandatory car journeys.
“At a time when ever-increasing petrol and diesel costs are pushing family budgets to breaking point, asking parents to pay for extra driving just to get their children to a local primary school is completely out of touch.
“This isn’t a school with three or four pupils—it is a thriving, in-demand school. The nursery is full, vibrant, and buzzing every single day. Schools aren’t just concrete and brick; they are the beating hearts of local life and community spirit. Carmarthenshire County Council’s plan threatens to rip that heart out.
“With local housing estates expanding and our population growing, this decision makes zero financial sense. Spending taxpayers’ money to expand classrooms elsewhere while closing an active, thriving school will cost far more in the long run than it could ever save today. I am calling on the Cabinet Secretary to intervene, and I will be raising this directly in the Senedd Chamber to demand fairness for Bancffosfelen.”
