Village school on Welsh coast faces closure as holiday home buyers drive out locals
A seaside village is facing losing its only school because a surge in holiday homes bought by wealthy owners has left it with just 10 pupils.
Families have been priced out of the village dubbed "Cheshire-by-the-Sea" because of the number of second home owners snapping up the coastal properties over the Welsh border.
The village of Abersoch is left as a "ghost town" for chunks of the year as holiday homes become empty when the season is over.
And locals say the "heart will be ripped out of the village" if their primary school is closed by education chiefs.
School numbers at primary school Ysgol Abersoch have now dwindled to just eight full-time and two nursery pupils - just one third of its 32-pupil capacity.
It costs Gwynedd Council £17,404 per head to keep the school running, which is more than four times the county average of £4,198.
Councillors will now decide if it will close - and those pupils affected will then get free transport 1.5 miles to Ysgol Sarn Bach.
Two petitions were set up to oppose the closure and attracted up to 3,000 signatures.
One woman said: "Without the school Abersoch has no focal point, the very heart and soul will have disappeared."
Another said: "Leaving Abersoch without a primary school would result in it becoming a holiday place for tourists for a few months a year and a ghost town for the remainder."
It comes after protests took place in the village of 700 people against holiday homes taking over the area.
Cllr Cemlyn Williams, of Gwynedd Council, said: "It is always sad when the future of any school is under consideration.
"However, we have a duty to ensure that we offer the best possible education and experiences along with the best possible learning environment.
"Having fully considered all objections, it is recommended to confirm the proposal to close Ysgol Abersoch at the end of 2021."
About 39 per cent of the houses in the village are second homes.
"It isn't fair on local people," said local councillor John Brynmor Hughes.
"We are the people who have sold our hearts out of our communities in the first place, and the land for the developments."
Demand for second homes and holiday properties has rocketed because of the combination of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
Impact of Brexit
Brexit is said to have made it more difficult to live in a second home abroad, while rural locations have enticed those living in cities with the increase in home working.
Mabon ap Gwynfor, the Welsh Senedd member for the Abersoch area, said: "It's been an ongoing issue for two generations at least.
"It has come to the fore again over the last 12 months or so, primarily because of the coronavirus. But it was clearly a problem before that.
"Back in 2019, I reckoned this as one of the major problems facing the community, because back then something like 30 per cent of the higher end houses that were sold in Gwynedd were sold as second homes.
"It's damaging because it takes a house out of the housing stock. It pushes the value of houses up, so only the wealthiest can afford them."
