Silver Jubilee: video footage shows demolished Bretton pub as site to become new home of Heltwate School

A former Peterborough pub has finally been knocked down by developers - after shutting its doors in April 2009.

The Silver Jubilee pub was demolished at the start of March 2022 to make way for a £6.8 million project to expand a city special school.

Drone footage captured by Sebastian Roberts shows the nostalgic site, once loved and now lost by many locals, now reduced to rubble.

So, what do we already know about the school - and when will the new building work begin?

Here’s what we know so far.

Who has bought the Silver Jubilee pub site?

The city council agreed the purchase of the former Silver Jubilee pub in Heltwate, Bretton, for £650,000 in 2020.

Which school will be moving onto the pub site?

The new development will become home to Heltwate School, which currently offers education for 206 pupils, aged 4-19 years.

When building works finish it will allow the “very constrained” school - which employs 90 full-time staff - to increase in size.

Currently, the school 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 pupils have moderate and severe learning difficulties.

Why is the school needed?

In 2017, Helwate School was re-designated as a school for pupils with only severe learning difficulties and complex needs.

This means as the older children with moderate learning difficulties leave in year 11 they are replaced with pupils with severe learning needs.

Planning proposals include a substantial new building which will include the provision of five class spaces, hall, sensory rooms, therapy rooms, hygiene rooms, storage, reception and office area, staff room, outdoor covered play area, outdoor hard and soft play areas.

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 – with 25 additional spaces - as well as a minibus and taxi pick-up and drop-off space within a secured enclosure.

When did the pub close?

The Silver Jubilee closed on April 23, 2009 and since then has been a target for anti-social behaviour, including arson attacks.

Residents have also complained that it has been an “eyesore”.

The business was operated by Greene King Pub Company as a leasehold pub.

According to planning papers, it was struggling for many years “owing to poor trading conditions, a shift in the pub market, local demographics and the impact of the smoking ban.”

No interest was forthcoming and Greene King Pub Company instructed Caldecotte Consultants to find an alternative use for the site should the pub not reopen.

The pub has remained shut and boarded up since April 2009.

What will the new school look like?

Architect drawings show a detached two-storey building and a new hard-standing games area for the pupils.

Existing public open space will be converted into school playing fields, including a public footpath linking Heltwate to Pyhill.

The council said the budget for the proposed development is already 70 per cent higher than the original allocation so there are no funds for extra tree planting - but the benefits of improving the school’s facilities outweighs the loss of trees.

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.

When will building work begin?

Works were originally expected to be completed by July this year – so the new site can welcome it’s first pupils from the beginning of term in September 2022.

The project is now due to be completed in Spring 2023.

Former planning permission was granted in 2017 for 11, two-bedroom apartments with the pub to be retained.

Then, in 2018, a planning application was submitted to convert the use of the site to temporary storage, but this was withdrawn as it did not have support of the council’s planning department.

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.