Fire-damaged school has operated with limited capacity since 2022, but consultation still uses original figures

A ROW over the future of Manorbier Church in Wales VC School has intensified after a parent and former governor accused Pembrokeshire County Council of using “misleading and incomplete” data in its statutory consultation on permanent closure.

Suzanne Pearton-Scale contacted The Herald this week after receiving a formal response to her complaint from Steven Richards-Downes, the Council’s Director for Education. He said the consultation process meets statutory requirements and that the data used by the authority is accurate.

But Ms Pearton-Scale says the Council has failed to address fundamental issues about the figures underpinning its case to shut the fire-damaged school — issues the community says have been raised repeatedly since the consultation began on 5 November.

Fire, delays and temporary accommodation

The dispute comes more than three years after the October 2022 fire that destroyed Manorbier’s main building. The Council later moved pupils into temporary accommodation, where the school has remained ever since — despite early hopes that a rebuild could be completed by 2026.

The Herald has reported extensively on delays linked to insurance negotiations, the £2.6 million rebuild estimate, and uncertainty over how much of that figure would be covered by insurers. At one stage the Council confirmed that its own liability included a £200,000 excess, but refused to confirm the total amount insurers were prepared to fund.

By April 2025, community frustration was growing, with residents saying the long delays had left the school in limbo while wider “school modernisation” proposals were being developed.

Capacity figures at the centre of dispute

In its consultation documents, the Council states that Manorbier has 86 places and more than 70% surplus capacity — one of the key criteria used to justify closure.

Ms Pearton-Scale says this figure is “entirely hypothetical” because the school has not had 86 usable places since 2022.

She says the temporary site only has a functional capacity of 30 pupils, and that with 23.5 pupils currently on roll, the true surplus is around 21%, well below the School Organisation Code thresholds for closure.

“The figures being presented to the public are not based on the school that actually exists today,” she said. “You cannot run a consultation on numbers that ignore three years of reality.”

Was the school removed from the Council website?

She also alleges that at one stage the school was removed from the Council’s website, something she says misled prospective parents and suppressed enrolment during a period when pupil numbers were being monitored.

PCC did not address this point in its response to her complaint.

Rebuild costs: ‘separate issue’ or central justification?

Mr Richards-Downes told Ms Pearton-Scale that the rebuild is “a separate matter” from the consultation.

However, The Herald notes that the Council’s own consultation documents repeatedly cite rebuild costs, temporary accommodation fees, and insurance factors as part of the rationale for closure.

Ms Pearton-Scale said: “The authority can’t claim it is not relevant while using those same costs to argue the school is no longer viable.”

Diocese opposition and community campaign

Earlier this year, The Herald reported that the St David’s Diocesan Board of Finance formally opposed closure, stating the school should be reinstated.

Local politicians, including county councillors, have previously accused PCC of “steamrolling” the closure through the modernisation process.

A petition launched by residents in mid-2024 gained hundreds of signatures in its first week and has since grown to more than 1,500 signatures in a parish of around 1,900 people.

Campaigners say this level of engagement shows overwhelming opposition and should carry weight in the consultation.

Council figures challenged

Ms Pearton-Scale disputes several other key consultation claims:

• That parental preference has shifted away from Manorbier: she says the cramped temporary site has deterred families, not lack of demand.
• That pupil numbers have declined by nearly 60% since 2015: she says the true decline prior to the fire was around 30%, and the remainder is due to enforced displacement.
• That per-pupil costs are high: she argues that temporary accommodation inflates figures that will not apply if a rebuild proceeds.

She says these issues were not adequately addressed in the Council’s response.

What happens next

The statutory consultation runs until 19 December 2025, after which officers will publish a consultation report and the Council’s Cabinet will decide whether to issue a statutory notice of closure.

If approved, the school could close in summer 2026.

Council response

Pembrokeshire County Council says the consultation is lawful, that its data is accurate, and that it has consulted all statutory bodies, including the Diocese.

The authority has been approached for further comment in light of the issues raised.

A PROPOSAL to increase Pembrokeshire council rents, which was condemned when it was expected to be solely made by a small number of senior councillors, will now be made by full council next week.

A report for members Pembrokeshire County Council’s November meeting of the Policy and Pre-Decision Overview and Scrutiny Committee outlined the current council rents background, with various rents increases proposed for 2026-’27, a final decision expected to be made by Cabinet in December.

A report for members highlighted the options for Pembrokeshire Council housing stock for 2026-2027 against the backdrop of the Welsh Government’s Rent and Service Charge Standard 2026-2026 and HRA Business Plan impacts, with a favoured 4.3 per cent inflation plus up to £5 for those below standard rates (a maximum of £5 subsequent increase).

“The reason that the current Standard is difficult for the Authority is due to there being 2,192 (37.32 per cent) tenants paying less that the Pembrokeshire Standard rent for the size of property that they live in (out of a total 5,874),” the report said.

It added: “It is estimated that this equates to lost income of £679,101 per annum for the HRA account which over the lifetime of the HRA Business Plan is £20.8m excluding consequential inflationary increases. Whilst there has been some success at moving some properties up to PCC Standard Rent through the following measures, due to 37 per cent of the rents being beneath Standard Rent there is still a long way to go.”

Cabinet member for housing, Cllr Michelle Bateman, presenting the item, had said the decision would be made by Cabinet rather than the report’s suggestion of full council.

Cllr Mike Stoddart said he was “appalled” the decision would be made by senior councillors only.

“I’m disappointed to hear these rent increases have been taken out of the hands of members and into the hands of Cabinet, it’s always been a council function,” adding: “The idea we shouldn’t have any say is a disgrace in my opinion.”

Following that meeting, a report was brought before the December meeting of the council’s Cabinet, with a recommendation now that the report to Cabinet would take the form of a recommendation for full council, which meets on December 12.

Members of Cabinet backed the recommendations in the report.

Amongst the recommendations from Cabinet are that Standard Rents be increased by 3.6 per cent plus up to £2.55 per individual rent that is currently below Standard Rent, and a 4.3 per cent rent increase plus up to £5 per individual rent that is currently below Standard Rent.

PLANS to bring at-risk historic Pembrokeshire buildings, one of which may once have housed otter hounds for a nearby mansion, back to use as homes have been given the go-ahead.

In an application recommended for approval at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s development management commit, along with a related listed building consent also recommended for approval, Mr and Mrs JPH and MHH Roberts, through agent Harries Planning Design Management, sought permission for the conversion of Grade-II-listed outbuildings into three dwellings at Llwyngwair Home Farm, Newport.

A report for members said: “The proposed scheme is in keeping with the character of the listed buildings, and their setting in terms of design and form and the application can be supported subject to conditions.”

It added: “The site comprises a complex of existing agricultural outbuildings including two Grade-II-Listed Buildings immediately south-east of Llwyngwair Mansion and just south-west of the Llwyngwair Home Farm.

“The buildings originally comprised coach housing and stabling for the mansion (facing the old back drive) with the buildings later used in conjunction with the more modern home farm when the mansion and grounds were redeveloped as hotel and caravan site.

“The buildings are on the authority’s Buildings at Risk Register as many of the original fixtures were removed and some openings altered, and the buildings are in varying states of condition.”

It went on to say: “Supporting information has been provided which demonstrates that the cost of conversion alongside a financial contribution for affordable housing would make the scheme unviable.

“The authority considers that in this instance the value of delivering a conversion scheme which will ensure the preservation and restoration of the listed buildings, is a significant material consideration which in this instance outweighs the need for a financial contribution.”

Members heard some two years had been spent in preparing the application for the buildings, one of which may once have been used as a kennel for housing otter hounds.

The committee heard some 70 trees, many of low value and some suffering ash dieback, would be removed but there would be “three-to-one” replanting, including hedge planting.

Moving approval, Cllr Di Clements said: “It’s absolutely no mean feat to take on this project, it’s important we recognise that, especially to save these gorgeous buildings.”

She was seconded by Cllr Steve Alderman, who said: “What a wonderful project this sems to me; I look forward to seeing it completed.”

Authority member Dr Madeleine Havard said the scheme was “enabling nature to continue to have its space whilst allowing people to be able to live somewhere, and also preserving an historic building”.

The application, and the related listed building consent, was overwhelmingly backed by members.