School closed for second day

Pupils were fenced out of their playground

A Powys school at the centre of a land dispute has been forced to close for the second day after a 7ft high fence was put up across the playground at the weekend.

The local authority involved in the dispute will try and get a court order on Tuesday morning so that the fence can be taken down.

But the parents will have to find child care provision for the 135 pupils at the school again on Tuesday.

Property developer, Griff Beynon-Thomas, claims he owns half the land on which Caersws Primary School, with 135 pupils, was built 20 years ago.

Obviously my concern is for the safety of the children and after meeting with a fire officer on Sunday morning I decided that the school should be closed on Monday

Roy Gardner, head teacher

On Saturday he erected the fence around the school and just a few yards from the building itself as a legal row with Powys Council over the disputed land came to a head.

And on Monday parents and pupils protested outside the school - which the head teacher has temporarily closed. The demonstrators said they had become the innocent victims of the row.

Powys Council claims it owns the land and made arrangements on Monday for the fencing to be removed.

Mr Beynon-Thomas is currently involved in re-developing the site of the former Llys Maldwyn psychiatric hospital next to the school.

Caersws head teacher Roy Gardner said the first he knew about the matter was when he received a call from a parent who lives near the school on Saturday evening.

"I went down there to discover that a 7ft high fence had been built around the school with only four yards between the fence and the school.

Mr Beynon-Thomas is in a long running land dispute with the council

"We met Mr Thomas who claims that he owns the land up to where he has placed the fence.

"Obviously, my concern is for the safety of the children and after meeting with a fire officer on Sunday morning I decided that the school should be closed on Monday," he said.

Around 20 parents and pupils at the school waving banners protested against the fence on Monday morning.

"We want our children back in school because they are missing out on their education," said one parent.

"Some of them only have three weeks left before they finish for good so they want to make the most of the time that's left to them."

Despite proteststhe school will stay closed on Tuesday

Mr Beynon-Thomas, who bought the Llys Maldwyn site in 1999, released a statement through his solicitors on Monday.

'Intransigence'

He claimed in the statement it had later "transpired" that an area of the land was being used by the school, and it was felt it might be beneficial if both parties could achieve a negotiated settlement.

"Although the basis for a negotiated settlement was proposed to the council's board, this was rejected outright in favour of litigation.

"The current position is deeply regretted and has resulted purely as a result of the council's intransigence."

However, a council spokesman said the authority had bought the land where the school now stands from the Welsh Office in 1983.

"As far as we are concerned the land is ours and we will take action against Mr Beynon-Thomas to prevent him from taking any further action on our land which we consider unlawful.

"We will seek a court order to force him to take down the fence or be allowed to take down the fence ourselves and charge him for doing it."