Plans submitted to transform vacant Bridge House in Blackburn into specialised SEN centre
A new planning application has been submitted to the council for a specialised SEN centre.
Blackburn with Darwen Council has successfully secured £1.7m of new government funding that could be used to help transform the vacant Bridge House building, close to Blackburn Railway Station.
The new planning application proposes to transform the building into a two-storey extension, café, parking, an outdoor garden and improved accessibility.
Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “It’s fantastic that we’re now in a position to submit these plans as part of our bid to transform the Bridge House building into a post-16 Special Educational Needs centre.
“The building has been vacant for many years, and it requires significant investment to bring it back into use and so we’ve worked hard to secure new government funding to help towards that.”
He added: “We have big ambitions for our borough – for our residents and for our towns – and we’re on a mission to ensure no-one is left behind, this is a great example of that.”
As well as the government and council investment, the local authority is also looking to use Section 106 money from new housing developments in the borough.
This new planning application comes just weeks after approval was given for a £2.5m extension to Newfield School, which offers specialist education for children and young people aged between two and 19 years old.
That extension aims to provide new places for 65 pupils with special educational needs.
The Bridge House project could see the numbers of post-16 pupils taught by Crosshill also increase to more than 70, to help meet the needs of an anticipated increase over the coming years.
Currently, the pupils are based at a facility on a business park and the new plans will allow them to access a much wider curriculum, including important life and vocational skills.
PSA is working alongside architect’s Cassidy + Ashton for the scheme, which is expected to cost around £3.5m.