Language campaigners have urged Gwynedd councillors to reject plans to close Ysgol y Parc ahead of a meeting of the council's board today. In a letter to the council, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg has asked officials and the members with responsibility for education to change the plans following overwhelming public opposition to the consultation proposals.Rather than closing the school, the language group are recommending a federal solution for the local rural schools. Speaking ahead of the meeting, Cymdeithas education spokesperson Ffred Ffransis commented:"There is no valid reason for endangering the future of the one of our strongest rural Welsh-speaking communities. There is no support in Penllyn for the proposal to close Ysgol Y Parc. So, we're asking the council to give an assurance about the future of the school at their meeting and call for positive talks about a cooperative arrangement between the four rural schools and the new lifelong learning school in Bala.""The crux of the problem is that there wasn't any consideration of the responses to the consultation on the future of Ysgol y Parc given that the officials are still sticking to the same negative policy of closing the school. It's a dangerous step for the council to try to force through a policy that hasn't got any local support."

"The plain facts are that none of the tens of responses support the closure policy and the three locally elected members from Penllyn also oppose the policy. There were meetings where hundreds of people came to support the school.""91% of the local community speaks Welsh and a good proportion of the community's young people set up home locally because of the strong feeling of belonging. No-one has ever claimed that the school needs to close for educational reasons. The range of educational experiences could be extended better with our plan for a Penllyn federation."Consultation details (Gwynedd Council website)