New school fence raises access issues

A new perimeter fence that has been erected at Ysgol Llanfyllin to safeguard pupils has raised concerns over access to a defibrillator, which will now be moved.

It has also caused a problem with one adjoining property owner claiming access to part of her exterior is now restricted by the fence and she now has to ask permission from the school to be able to reach it.

Her issue was further aggravated by the fact that the fence was erected two weeks prior to her then receiving a letter, seen by MyWelshpool, from Powys County Council saying it would happen. This means that the first she knew of it was when the workers showed up.

Despite the hiccups, Powys County Councul said they were left with no choice as the fence was a requirement from a recent Estyn report to safeguard pupils and reduce unauthorised vehicle access.

A spokesperson said: “There is no public rights of way through the school grounds and the boundary fencing has been installed for safeguarding pupils which arose from an Estyn inspection report.

“The council needed to introduce these measures to meet with Estyn requirements, safeguard pupils and reduce unauthorised vehicle access onto the site.

“The line of the new fence and gates at (our reader’s property) still allows access for the owner’s maintenance of their building with access by arrangement with the school.

“The new gate to the school grounds will remain open to the public to access the defibrillator and will be relocated for public access to the other side of the school fence. In conjunction with leisure services and Llanfyllin Town Council we are hopefully going to relocate the ‘defib’ to an agreed location within the town.”