Sue Oliver, Labour Councillor for Kempston North has welcomed the granting of planning permission for a 200-place special educational needs school to be built in Kempston.
The school will be built on part of the land at the town’s former Robert Bruce Middle School site.
More than 100 Bedford Borough SEND students are presently educated in schools outside of the Borough. This new facility will provide specialist education locally, and will open in September 2024.
Councillor Sue Oliver (Labour, Kempston North) said: “As a retired special needs coordinator in Bedfordshire, I know how important it is to have the right high-quality provision for a whole range of needs. Those numbers of special educational needs pupils have only increased since I retired years ago, so it’s important to have the provision for our youngsters close to home or at least within the Borough. From an educational point of view, this will be a good thing – to have a state-of-the-art 200-place special school within our own Borough.
“However, as the ward Councillor, I am concerned about an increase in traffic and I would want to see all parking accommodated on site rather than impacting on nearby streets. I would also like to see a restricted speed zone at drop off and pick up times, and will push for that. On the plus side, this will be an improvement on the eyesore local residents have had to put up with in recent years.”