Housing plan on the site of ex city special school
THE site of a former special school could be developed for housing.
Bosses at Coventry City Council’s development services have applied to their colleagues in the council’s planning department for outline permission build 39 houses on the site of the former Dartmouth School.
The site in Tiverton Road belongs to the council.
Education bosses say they don’t need the site to use for a school as there are plenty of school places in and near Wyken.
The council plans to sell the site and put the money towards council funds.
If the outline planning application is successful the site will be more attractive to potential buyers.
The buildings have been demolished apart from the caretaker’s house.
The development would be two and three bedroomed mainly terraced houses.
Dartmouth School served boys with behaviour problems until 2006 when the school was closed.
For the next five years the building was used as a pupil referral unit teaching 14 and 16-yearolds too badly behaved to be in school.
But in 2011 the pupil referral unit moved to purpose built accommodation on the site of Caludon Castle School in nearby Axholme Road leaving the former Dartmouth School empty.
The building provided a temporary home for Sikh free school the Seva School between September 2014 and September 2015. Now the Seva School is based in former office accommodation in Walsgrave. The site hasn’t been used since the school left.
Council planners have by law to ask government agency Sport England for an opinion before they give planning permission for building on playing fields.
The playing field on the site has a running track and small football pitch. Sport England bosses are happy for the former Dartmouth School playing fields to be built over as long as a £20,000 payment is made for improvements to nearby playing fields.