New buildings for Orchard School if £15m project is approved
A special school with buildings labelled the worst in Nottinghamshire is on the verge of receiving completely new facilities as part of a £15m scheme.
Proposals to be discussed by Nottinghamshire County Council next week would see new buildings for the Orchard School, while a new day centre would also be constructed.
The project would be built on an area in Balderton which currently comprises land of the now-demolished Grove Leisure Centre, the existing Newark day centre, a former Pupil Referral Unit building and small landscape depot.
Orchard Special School is currently split between two buildings at separate sites in Newark - Appletongate and London Road - both of which are in urgent need of redevelopment.
The report setting out the plans, which will be considered by the policy committee, follows a county council decision to commit a further £2.5m to the project, in addition to the £5m previously allocated, and comes after a full options appraisal of potential sites and layouts.
The total cost of the redevelopment, including external funding, is £15m.
The county council said constructing a new day centre alongside the new school opens up opportunities to provide high-quality facilities.
The redevelopment of the complete site will mean that the existing day centre will be demolished.
Residential care and support centre Woods Court, in Newark, will be adapted as a temporary new home for the existing day service, whilst the redevelopment work takes place.
Subject to detailed design and planning, it is anticipated that Orchard School pupils and Newark day centre users will be in the new facilities by the end of 2020.
The policy committee will consider the proposals at its meeting on Wednesday.
If they are approved, consultation will begin immediately with users and stakeholders of the existing facilities.
A project board will be established to ensure stakeholders’ views are central to the scheme and oversee the detailed design and construction phase.
There has been a long-running campaign to replace the Orchard School by parents and governors that was backed by the Advertiser.
'We have always been hopeful'
The head of the Orchard School, Mrs Margot Tyers, who has always been a strong leading voice in that campaign, said it was good to have something finally confirmed and a time-line in place.
"We have always been hopeful," she said. "Together with the parents action group we have worked long and hard to campaign for a new school but it has been a long journey."
Mrs Tyers said the buildings were unsuitable and as time has gone on there have been problems with leaking roofs and rotten windows and more and more money has had to be spent on maintenance.
She said that at the moment there was no indoor space at either school where all the children could get together - there are 104 children aged three to 18 at the two sites.
Mrs Tyers said the new school would give the children the building they deserved.
"It has been a long, long wait and it's great to hear that everybody is committed to having a new school," she said. "This will make a huge difference."
The MP for Newark, Mr Robert Jenrick, said: "I'm absolutely delighted that the Orchard will be rebuilt.
"This is a huge win for the young people, staff and parents who campaigned valiantly. I'm over the moon.
"The school was in a terrible state and it was morally wrong to allow it to continue.
"I'm grateful to everyone who supported us, including the government and county council for devoting millions of pounds each to sort this out."
Kay Cutts, the leader of the county council and chairman of the policy committee, said: "I am delighted that we are now in a position where we can take forward the much-anticipated redevelopment of the Orchard School and not only that, deliver a great new day centre, too.
"The demolition of the former leisure centre and other adjoining sites provides us with a blank canvas, giving us the perfect opportunity to deliver a purpose-built development with modern facilities for users of both the school and day centre.
"This is not only a fantastic outcome for pupils, day centre users and staff at both facilities, it is also a fantastic outcome for residents of Newark who will benefit from a significant regeneration of the area.
"Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Orchard School staff, pupils and parents who have battled on patiently in their current, unsuitable facilities. I very much look forward to working alongside them as we design and deliver a new school they can be proud of."
The initial commitment to fund a re-build came when the county council was Labour-controlled with the project adopted and progressed by the now-Conservative administration.
Newark MP Robert Jenrick secured funding from the Government to help meet the total required, some of which is coming from a new special schools rebuilding fund; a fund that he lobbied for.
The Advertiser has been unable to reach Mr Jenrick for comment.
The residents of Woods Court are relocating to a brand new £8m complex, Gladstone House on Bowbridge Road, that will provide an assisted-living extra-care facility for 60 people.
Its future had been unclear, but the site will now be home to the relocated daycare facility.
The former Grove Leisure Centre, which had closed, was burned to the ground by arsonists last year while it was in the process of being demolished.
The county council said Woods Court would cease to operate when the residents were settled in at Gladstone House.