New 100-pupil special school set for approval in Northampton

Plans for the special school in Whiston Road are due to be approved on Tuesday.

Proposals to create a new education facility for 13 to 18-year-olds with learning difficulties on the site of the former Bective Middle School in Whiston Road, Sunnyside, were first mooted by the county council in 2014.

Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust took the scheme on and submitted plans to he borough council for the Green Oaks Academy Special School in 2014.

The bid is set to come before the borough’s planning committee on Tuesday, and officers have recommend it for approval.

A report to the committee reads: “The proposed development represents an appropriate land use and subject to conditions, would have a neutral impact upon the character and appearance of the area, neighbour amenity, the environment and the highway system.”

Original proposals had been to place housing across the whole of he former Bective Middle School site, which was gutted by fire in 2010 and later demolished.

While the plans for 170 homes were approved, the homes developers agreed to split the site with a school operator.

The proposed school would cater for children with special educational needs, specifically autism, Asperger’s, and severe learning difficulties.

The bid is being funded by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) and will include a 63-space car park.