The response comes following a report by the Friends of Ethinog and Brewery Fields survey, who claim to have found rare fungi on the Ethinog site, earmarked for a new Cae Top building.

If the discovery is verified by the Countryside Council for Wales, then Ethinog may be awarded Site of Specific Scientific Interest status – outlawing any development of the land.

Cae Top headmaster Rhys Hughes said a new school was urgently needed.
He said "We desperately need to move, this is 2008 and the children are in a building built in 1870.

"We want to work with people to find the best possible solution for all concerned, but the children should come first."

A planning meeting is scheduled by Gwynedd Council on February 4, to determine if Ysgol Cae Top will be rebuilt on the field.
Jennie Lewis, chairman of the governors, said: "Every possible site has been explored, but there is nowhere else.

"The main thing we would emphasize is the obvious need for a new building – the children deserve better."
Also backing the school proposal is Gwynedd councillor and Cae Top governor June Marshall

"It seems to me that with this, everybody wins," said Cllr Marshall.

"If part of the field is used for the school, which is a good use of the land and is only a small development, it will preserve the vast majority of the fields."

Ysgol Cae Top has been subject to two school inspections, in 1997 and 2003, and both highlighted the need for "substantial improvement to the school buildings and facilities" as the primary key issue for action in otherwise glowing reports.

The school has 240 pupils, who are taught in two main buildings, constructed in 1870 and 1910, as well as a number of temporary classrooms.

Plans for the new school building are based upon an environmentally friendly blueprint, including solar panels, and an educational windmill.

Mr Hughes said: "People don't send their children here because we have fancy buildings – we have children from all over the world coming here, and we want to offer them the best possible education."

Meanwhile, Gwynedd councillor Dai Rees Jones, who represents the Glyder ward, wants to know the opinions of residents living near the fields.

Cllr Jones will distribute a questionnaires to 627 homes this Saturday, with recipients having a week to return their response.