2019 was the year when works hopefully came to an end on the new Monmouth Comprehensive School site, but Monmouthshire County Council has not yet told us the true cost of the school. Figures provided to the Beacon told us that the original budget figure for two schools, one in Caldicot and one in Monmouth was £34 million for the two.

In my letter which you kindly printed in the Beacon dated 3rd October 2018, I showed how, again based based on council figures, the Monmouth school had already cost £54 million after 12 months work to September 2017, MCC did not respond to this letter.

The council promised to replace the town’s swimming pool with a new pool costing £5 million to be sited next to the leisure centre. The pool was eventually created within the leisure centre. The original pool (on which £400,000 had recently been spend) was demolished to site the school so both the cost of the new pool (£7.4 million) and resulting alterations to the leisure centre are part of the cost of the new school. So now, the costs that we have been told have already exceeded £100 million based on September 2017 figures. We have not been told of any of the costs of constructing the new school since that date.

MCC does not respond to my letters so I’m hoping that under the FOI Act 2000 they will provide the Beacon with the true figures.

G T Powell (Monmouth)