St David's High school has merged

Neil Rogers said the authority has learnt important lessons.

The cost of the project was originally put at �12m but then almost doubled to �22.5m.

Mr Rogers made his comments just three months after the council said the rise in the cost of the project would not be made public.

It was first revealed last autumn that the cost to merge three schools into two had doubled and a thorough inquiry was promised.

The council has learnt a number of lessons from this experience Neil Rogers

"In September.... I made a statement that, following a full investigation, which also covered personnel issues, I would explain to the people of Wrexham how the situation relating to the secondary schools had arisen," said council leader Neil Rogers.

"I also want to outline the lessons we as an authority have learned from our experience.

"Now that all the contractual and other confidential issues have been cleared up I am able to give you the council's viewpoint."

Under the long-running 'super school' plans, pupils from three schools - Bryn Offa, St David's and the Groves - have merged into two new ones, Ysgol Clywedog and Rhosnesni High.

The original amount of money set aside for the project was found to be too small after it was revealed that the cost of inflation had not been built into calculations.

An independent investigation into the schools' spiralling costs was ordered in February.

Neil Rogers has written an open letter about the schools overspend

That concluded that the culture at Wrexham Council between 1996 and 2002 had played a significant part in allowing the overspend to happen.

In his letter to the media on Monday, Mr Rogers said difficulties first arose in autumn 2002 when Yale College told the council that they could not afford to buy the Groves site.

The college would have contributed �5.7m towards the estimated project cost of �12m, by buying the vacant Penymaes Avenue site from them.

"The council agreed that the project should continue with the council funding the �5.7m shortfall through an accelerated programme of the disposal of industrial assets," said Mr Rogers.

"The council has learnt a number of lessons from this experience and a number of management issues are being addressed," he added.

One of the new schools, Rhosnesni High, opened at the start of this term.

Mr Rogers said at the opening that the project was still value for money, in spite of the cost hike.

Ysgol Clwyedog will be completed in February and will be fully open in April 2005.