Manorbier County councillor Cllr Phil Kidney has made an impassioned plea to keep the closure threatened village school open.

The early stages of what could lead to the potential closure of fire-ravaged Manorbier VC School and Ysgol Clydau has been backed by councillors this month.

At the May meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, members received a report of the School Modernisation Working Group recommending a series of proposals including the Director of Education be authorised to commence statutory consultation to discontinue bot schools.

The capital cost of rebuilding Manorbier VC School is estimated to be £2.6 million.

PCC leader Cllr Jon Harvey said, in the case of Manorbier, he wasn’t yet convinced the authority “was in full possession of the relevant data to make a decision”.

Independent group leader Cllr Huw Murphy, who later called for a deferral of any decision on Manorbier, saying: “We all wanted Manorbier to be rebuilt, and the majority do now; we owe Manorbier a chance, we’re being asked to make a decision on incomplete information.”

Cllr Rhys Jordan, a neighbouring councillor to Manorbier, said the school had been “caught in a bit of a political football on both sides,” adding: “When that school burned down those children were placed in a safe place that’s become a long-term fix.

“We need to get these young people into a proper educational environment; I can’t support Cllr Murphy’s amendment, it would be just kicking this down the road. I urge members to make a difficult decision today and support the recommendations.”

Cllr Phil Kidney in an impassioned plea, said the teachers and pupils at the school had been though a “horrendous” time with Covid and the later fire.

“Of course, the figures went down; they lost a big catchment to Greenhill [Tenby] and through Covid and the fire. Figures are going up but there’s the uncertainty of the last two-and-a-half years.”

“50% of the pupils have got ALN needs, a lot of them come out of catchment simply due to the nurturing; there’s a lot of poverty in Manorbier, a lot of the children will struggle in classes of big sizes, that’s why they go to Manorbier.

“It shouldn’t all be about money; we’re looking at the bottom line all the time, what they’ve been through is horrendous. I can’t speak highly enough about the level of teaching; this is the sword of Damocles hanging over them, we’re not trying to give people false hope, we’re only trying to make the right decision, with all the information.

“At the moment I would say we haven’t got all the information there; all we’re asking from the council is give us the benefit of the doubt and make the decision with all the information. Waiting another couple of months is well worth it, the staff, pupils and parents of Manorbier school all deserve it.”

Cllr Murphy’s amendment was defeated by 35 votes to 14, with one abstention, the original recommendation later passing by 44 to three, again with one abstention.