Plans to convert former Peterborough pub into new school building submitted

The city council bought the former Silver Jubilee pub in Heltwate, Bretton, for £650,000 earlier this year in order to allow the “very constrained” Heltwate School to increase in space, with the cramped school having to reduce class sizes.

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.

Under the plans, a new two-storey building for early years pupils will be built on an area of designated public open space, with a new footpath and parking area proposed.

The mixed special school, which is rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, currently offers education for pupils aged 4-19 years. It is situated over two sites - the main site in Bretton which is home to Reception to Key Stage 3 pupils, and Heltwate St George’s in Lawn Avenue where Key Stage 4 and post-16 students are based.

The school currently caters for 206 pupils aged 4-19 who have moderate and severe learning difficulties, as well as 90 full-time staff.

In 2017, it was re-designated as a school for only severe learning difficulties with complex needs.

This means as the older, moderate learning difficulty children leave in Year 11 they are replaced with children with severe learning needs.

The planning application states that the school has a need for increased hygiene and toilet facilities, specialist therapeutic curriculum space and additional space to accommodate an increase in the volume of mobility equipment, wheelchairs and standing frames.

It adds: “These complex needs make ordinary school activities unmanageable in the main school site with only one hall space and pressure on car parking and access to the school.

“One hundred per cent of pupils have an Educational Health and Care Plan and two-thirds of our pupils are on the autistic spectrum. They need appropriate accommodation to enable them to have their medical, personal care and social and emotional needs met.”

It had been proposed in 2017 to relocate Heltwate to a new site in Newark Road, however, the project had to be cancelled in February 2018 due to the financial collapse of contractors Carillion.

Currently, the school only has one hall which is oversubscribed, while there is also insufficient classroom sizes.

The new site would have its own visitors and staff parking as well as a minibus/taxi pick-up and drop-off space within a secured enclosure.

It would also have five classrooms, shared hygiene room facilities and food technology, sensory room and staff room facilities, as well as a multi-purpose hall and dining area.

If the proposals are approved, the new building will cater for Nursery, Reception and Year 1 pupils, while the main site will provide for Key Stage 2 and 3 pupils.

Heltwate St George’s would continue to host Key Stage 4 and post-16 students.

Pending planning approval, works are planned to begin in May 2021 with completion by July 2022 so the new site can welcome its first pupils from September 2022.

The Peterborough Telegraph revealed in April 2019 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.