Demolition starts to allow work on £45m new Seashell campus
WORK has finally started to make way for the new Seashell Trust School.
Demolition has started on the Stanley Road, Cheadle, site to allow the new £45m campus to be built.
Mark Geraghty, chief executive of the Seashell Trust, said: “This is the first visible sign that things are changing at the Seashell Trust.
“It is an important milestone for the many children and young people with severe, complex and specialist needs who we care for and educate.
“Our current buildings date back to the 1950s and are just no longer fit for purpose, we we desperately need a new school and to modernize the campus to be able to continue to provide outstanding care for our children and young people.”
The new school will boast a therapy suite and swimming pool, extension to the existing college, family assessment units, family support services, a sports hall and pavilion as well as a new main entrance drive, reception and car parking.
The development will also see the creation of 325 new homes on land owned by the Trust between Wilmslow Road and the A34 at Heald Green.
Mark added: “Without the housing and sale of the land, this scheme simply can’t go ahead and we desperately need these new facilities to be able to continue to provide support and education for our students, many of whom have profound and challenging special needs.
“There really is no plan B – we need this scheme to guarantee the future of Seashell Trust.”
The Express has previously reported on residents anger at the prospect of losing green belt land to housing.
MP Mary Robinson has previously questioned the need for housing on the site.
She said: “I fully appreciate the desire of trustee to modernise the facilities.
“Whilst I will continue to do all I can to support their fantastic work, my view on building on green belt land remains that green belt designation is provided in the interest of permanence and when it is lost, it is lost forever.”