A planning application for the long-awaited new all-through school in Machynlleth has been submitted, Powys County Council has announced.

The new 540-place school will be built at Ysgol Bro Hyddgen’s secondary school site to replace the current primary and secondary school buildings.

Powys County Council has been working on plans to build a new school for Ysgol Bro Hyddgen since 2017, but the project faced an unforeseen delay due to the collapse of the main contractor, Dawnus Construction Ltd.

An application to Cadw earlier this year to get the current building listed also threw a potential spanner in the works.

The cost of the original plans also rose from £49 million to £66 million, making it unaffordable.

A renewed plan was adjusted, losing original ideas for a library and leisure facilities, bringing the cost back down to an estimated £49 million.

The scaled down plans will see the replacement building incorporate early years facilities, areas for primary, secondary and post-16 education, a community room, an additional learning needs centre, well-being areas as well as external areas and a 3G pitch.

The revised business case was agreed by the Welsh Government in January 2023.

The new build will be funded by the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme, which will fund 65 per cent of the project with the remaining 35 per cent funded by the council.

While it had been hoped that the new Bro Hyddgen would be built and be open to pupils in 2026, the new school – which is currently transitioning from a dual-stream school to Welsh-medium - is now expected to be open to pupils in 2027.

Cllr Pete Roberts, Cabinet Member for a Learning Powys, said: “I’m delighted that the planning application for the new building for Ysgol Bro Hyddgen has been submitted.

“The new building will provide modern facilities for our pupils and teaching staff and help them to deliver an enjoyable and fulfilling education experience for everyone.

“This is an important strategic project for the council as it will help us deliver our commitments in the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan and increase the number of pupils being taught through the medium of Welsh.

“It will also help us meet the aims of our Strategy for Transforming Education in Powys.”

The council said that the building will have” excellent environmental credentials” and will be the council’s first Passivhaus All-through School building, achieving Net Zero Carbon.