Former Peterborough pub to be bought by council for school expansion

The council has set out plans to purchase the former Silver Jubilee pub in Heltwate, Bretton, for £650,000, on top of another £29,000 for stamp duty and fees.

The deal would allow for the “very constrained” Heltwate School to increase in space, with the cramped special school currently having to reduce class sizes.

The Peterborough Telegraph revealed last April that the council was in talks with The Whitfield Group Ltd to purchase the former pub rather than allow it to be converted into 20 flats which it has planning permission for.

The Silver Jubilee closed several years ago and since then has been a target for anti-social behaviour, including arson attacks, while residents have complained that it is an eyesore.

Heltwate is a mixed, special school for five to 19-year-olds with moderate to severe learning difficulties, while it also offers autism specific education.

Some older pupils are educated at a second site in Lawn Avenue, Park ward.

Plans had been put forward to build a new SEN school and hydrotherapy pool in Newark Road, but these have been shelved due to budget constraints, so attention has instead turned to buying the Silver Jubilee.

Peterborough City Council said the current school site is “very constrained,” with two additional mobile units on site which has reduced the outside play areas considerably.

It added: “Due to the nature and complex needs of the current cohort of pupils, the school is experiencing additional health and safety incidents due to limited space both internally and externally on the site.

“The class sizes are having to reduce to allow for the needs of the children and the school are having to use spaces as classrooms that would normally be used as group rooms.”

Should the deal for the former pub be approved a planning application is expected to be submitted in April, with consent hopefully given around July, the council added.