Plans to convert The Grange, Thatcham to special education needs school

PLANS have been submitted to open a special needs school in Thatcham.

Phoenix Learning and Care has applied to change the use of The Grange Nursery in Church Gate to a special education needs (SEN) school to accommodate up to 60 pupils and 25 members of staff.

The site comprises a campus of buildings used as a children’s day nursery, physiotherapist’s clinic and offices.

Harris Mind and Body, which occupies The Atrium on site, has told NewburyToday that they were only made aware of the planning application last week, despite the plans being lodged in April.

Nevertheless, more than 80 objections have been lodged since the physiotherapists put out an appeal to keep their business on site.

The application seeks to change the use of the buildings to cover planning class changes that come into affect in July.

Phoenix said the application was submitted on the basis that it the application was unlikely to be determined by July 31, and that the planning permission would "provide certainty that all buildings required to deliver a comprehensive school campus could be used for this purpose".

The company said West Berkshire has one of the most dispersed populations in the South East, and south Thatcham had one of the youngest populations, with around 15 to 16 per cent of the population aged nine years old and younger.

It added that the number of children with SEN support has steadily risen since 2017, with a high level of pressure for places within the existing local special schools and an increasing number of children transferring to non-West Berkshire special schools.

"Additional local provision is required to enable more children to be educated within their own communities," documents state.

"In addition, the cost of specialist placements outside West Berkshire is rising significantly and this cost is not sustainable in the long term and could lead to a reduction in local SEND support services in order to move resources into specialist placements."

Thatcham Town Council raised no objections to the scheme at a recent planning meeting.

Former primary school headteacher Paul Field (Green, Thatcham Central) said: "There is a clearly identified need across West Berkshire to increase the capacity for this specialist provision.

"It strikes me, on the face of it, that it seems a fairly reasonable suggestion for a location.

"It's clearly got the capacity for many more students on site, so there's no massive increase in the impact on that.

"I can't see any immediate objection and would feel encouraged to support it because it does meet a need that is being sadly overlooked on many occasions."

Phoenix said that no works are proposed to the listed building or its grounds as part of the application.

A separate application will be submitted to renovate the property and ensure the accommodation meets Health and Safety and Fire Regulations and is suitable for children with special needs.

The company said that the current nursery could accommodate 150 pupils, with the proposed school reducing pupil capacity to 60 pupils.

Staff numbers would increase by eight to 25, but Phoenix said that the number of traffic trips would be significantly reduced when the loss of office space and physiotherapists was taken into account.

Sixty-two parking spaces will be available.

Noise assessments said that the proposed use of the site as a school would not have a significant impact on adjacent areas, and a reduction in operating hours and weeks would also benefit neighbouring properties.

The plans can be viewed by entering 21/01086/COMIND into West Berkshire Council's planning website.