A NEW Special Educational Needs School (SEND) is to be built in Warrington after councillors gave it the green light last night.
A resident attended the Development Management Committee meeting to object to the development at Bennett’s Rec ground, which was bequeathed in a covenant by a former councillor in the early 20th century.
The council-owned land is on the corner of Birchwood Way and Blackbrook Avenue in Padgate and is a five-minute walk from Padgate train station.
It will provide 56 places for SEND education in the borough for students aged seven to 16. There will be approximately 26 members of staff working at the site. The report stated in the current financial year there’s a shortfall of 21 places for SEND in Warrington and by the time the school opens next year it will have increased to a shortfall of 75 places.
The existing lack of provision means there’s “an increased need for out of area placements. These placements tend to be more costly and cause disruption to the lives of students and families,” the planning application report said.
This is a result of the need to travel, challenges to social networks and finding housing and employment following completion of their education, the report said, and the development would reduce this need to travel outside the borough for SEND education.
The two-storey site will include playing fields, soft and hard landscaping, polytunnel, external canopies, access and car parking.
A resident explained the land was gifted to residents in 1919 by Cllr Bennett.
While expressing sympathy about the need for SEND education, he said the council had failed to carry out an appraisal of viable options elsewhere.
And there’d been no analysis of the cost benefits of the school.
Officers said the covenant was “not relevant” to considering the planning application.
Cllr Judith Wheeler expressed concern about the loss of the playing field.
And Cllr Paul Warburton said there was “an acute need” for SEND provision in Warrington and expressed sympathy for the resident’s concern over the land.
But he said it was “an absolute nightmare” sending children out of Warrington for education.
He pointed out as councillors are corporate parents in the education of children this had to be taken into consideration.
The application was approved, although a number of councillors abstained.
Deputy chair Cllr Steve Parish praised the legacy of Alderman Bennett, who gifted the land to the community.