Plans for a new special educational needs school in Havant are unveiled

The Acorn Education Trust has submitted a planning application to Havant Borough Council to redevelop McCormack House on East Street into a school for students aged between 11 and 18. The site, which is currently office space, is nearly half a kilometre from the town centre and boasts 0.57 hectares and 1,819 square metres of floor space.

Planning permission is sought for external works to the building, demolition of an existing outbuilding and the provision of a multi-use games area and new fencing. Acorn Care and Education provides services to young people with behavioural, emotional, social and learning needs. The proposed school would, if approved, provide school places for 70 students with special educational needs and employ around 40 members of staff.

Planning documents state: “The intention is that the school will help meet both the existing and future needs for specialist education in the area. This would reduce the number of children needing to travel ‘out of area’ to find an appropriate education environment and reduce overcrowding in existing settings. The proposal will therefore improve the learning outcomes of children in Hampshire, and potentially Sussex, who require specialist education.”

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It adds that the pupils will attend the school during normal term times between 9am to 3pm and will arrive at the school either by private vehicles or minibus. At the time of writing, four local residents have commented on the application expressing a wide range of views. One comment read the location “is not ideal for a school” as the traffic in the area is “huge” during school hours already. “The road safety officer/lollipop man already suffers daily with abuse from the traffic as people get to work and the two local schools already cause traffic and drivers don’t like the delays. Whilst I applaud the desire to have more educational settings available, unfortunately in this instance this proposal will cause more stress and congestion for residents, commuters and the pupils at the local schools.”

Residents can view the application here or by using the planning reference APP/23/00996.