Stockport readies special needs school

The council expects to lodge plans to redevelop the former Offerton High School site in The Fairway into a 50,000 sq ft special needs primary school, after learning that an environmental impact assessment of the scheme is not required. 

Stockport Council, as the developer, hopes to open the facility in time for the 2022/23 academic year, subject to planning approval and the appointment of a contractor. 

The eight-acre site in The Fairway neighbourhood, which includes the 25,000 sq ft former school building, has been vacant since 2012 when Offerton High School closed due to declining pupil numbers. 

Stockport plans to demolish the existing structures and create a special needs school with space for 208 pupils, to be operated by the council. 

Part of the Offerton School site was taken over in 2014 by Castle Hill High School, a special educational needs school for pupils aged 11-18.

The new primary school will consolidate some of the borough’s existing special educational needs offering, provided currently from three smaller schools around the borough. 

Pupils will come from Lisburne Primary School on Half Moon Lane, the Overdale Centre on Powicke Drive and Hollywood Park on Hardman Street. 

Broadgrove Planning & Development is the planning consultant for the project. 

Stockport’s plans follow the council’s approval in April of charity the Seashell Trust’s £45m plans for a private school for children with physical disabilities, to be delivered alongside more than 300 homes, at Stanley Road in Heald Green. 

The council initially refused the plans in 2018 but the decision was subsequently overturned after a review.