Special school wins approval despite objections

CONTROVERSIAL plans for a new £14million school for children with special needs in Clevedon have been approved.

North Somerset Council planners have given the green light for the expansion of Baytree School in Weston-super-Mare on a site at Brookfield Walk - despite hundreds of objections to the scheme.

Authority education chiefs announced in 2019 plans to expand the current Baytree Special School to a second site on green belt land in Clevedon to cope with a rising demand for places.

Council chiefs have been working with leaders at Baytree School in Worle since 2016, looking at how to increase provision for students.

The demand for spaces has risen over recent years with some students having to be educated outside the area.

Forecasting shows that the demand is to increase further due to the housing growth in the area and that the need for additional spaces is now ‘acute.’

The council-owned site in Brookfield Walk was selected from more than 500 options after an ‘exhaustive’ search.

Despite being in the green belt and at risk of flooding, planning officers said it was the only viable option.

However residents have fought the plans all the way and said Brookfield Walk - popular with families and dog walkers and one of the only green spaces in the area was the wrong location.

Residents claimed the area should be protected as it lies in the green belt and is home to many species of wildlife including slow worms, bats and badgers.

The land also sits on a floodplain and in the past residents have found it difficult to insure their homes.

Plans for the school, which would be open to children aged three to 19-years old, include classrooms, a recreation hall, dining hall, hydrotherapy pool and therapy rooms as well as external play areas, parking and amenity space.

It is hoped the school will be open for the 2022/23 school year.