A former school site will remain a resource for Dorset after being secured by the council.
Dorset Council has bought the former St Mary’s School site near Shaftesbury for £10.05m excluding taxes and fees. Opportunities to secure sites like this for Dorset are very rare.
Cllr Spencer Flower Leader of Dorset Council, said: “This is a significant investment and I am pleased that we have been able to secure it for the benefit of our community. We are always looking at ways of improving the delivery of services and this successful purchase will help us achieve that.
“We are very ambitious for the site. St Mary’s School comprises 165,000 sq ft of accommodation set within grounds of 55 acres. It is suitable for a broad range of services and community uses, which could include provision for Dorset children, supported living for our Dorset care leavers, provision for adults with disabilities, as well as a possible site for businesses to boost our local economy and more besides. We are committed to working with local people and stakeholder groups to get the mix of activity right so together we can achieve great things for this site and our community.
“I realise people are asking how can we afford it, but this is a clear example of investing to save in the longer term. I don’t want to pre-empt any decisions about the site, as we want to work with local people and groups first, but I can say that building a facility like this from scratch would cost considerably more. This is a unique opportunity and a very exciting chance to create something new that will greatly benefit our community.”
The upcoming consultation, which will begin as soon as possible and will explore a number of possible uses for the site. Local people and stakeholder groups will be asked for their views and this feedback will be considered before a final decision on use is made.
Details of the consultation and how people can get involved are being drawn-up and will be shared shortly.
The property sale was managed by real estate advisor Savills, on behalf of BDO. Stuart Jones, Savills development director said: “We are delighted to have delivered a successful outcome. St Mary’s is a significant site and we are pleased that it will remain a community asset”.
I think this is great but are the council aware the site is in Wiltshire? If so does it matter?
Hmmm…yes where did all these millions come from? Strange, there never seems to be money for environmental improvements, always building on green space, pretty much no money to do anything…or so we’re told, yet £10.5 million + to buy a school, which is going to require a massive amount of money to turn it into “something”?
We really need a adult education centre not only for special needs but for every day joe blogs like me my daughter is 20 and as special needs but there Nothing ere for her only Poole weymouth bounmoth I cannot drive please think of everyone
And yet another ‘consultation’ which will fall on deaf ears. We are in a ‘Climate Emergency’ we are being polluted by too many cars, our green space is being taken away, there’s not enough money to clean up the mess we continue to make, and develop/implement new cleaner energy, but there’s millions to buy a school, which will require millions to refurbish/renovate to make it useful – ‘fit for purpose’ as something other than a school.
So the Dorset Council bought a school, (£10.5 plus!) and now they’re wondering what to do with it?
After being told that Council Tax rises are critical for the maintenance of infrastructure and services across the county, I find it scandalous that the council can find the money to purchase a site of this magnitude and complexity. What guarantees are in place that will ensure the council can afford this in the short and long term? This will be proven to be a completely unaffordable white elephant which will be a burden on council tax payers for many years to come. Meanwhile across the county, roads are falling apart, major drains are constantly locked with debris and leaves, causing flooded roads and homes and the litter problem is getting worse with every day that passes. To add insult to injury, the local authorities then deem it necessary to buy a mansion house and estate! Marie Antoinette and “let them eat cake” springs to mind. Again, it appears grand buildings and prestige projects are more important than the tax payers who expect their elected council to spend their taxes on improving their local infrastructure to their benefit. This is scandalous in my opinion.
Brilliant plan . Am fully in support.
I believe that is a great result and consequence following the sad folding of the School.
Now it will remain as an asset for the local and wider community and bring more to the area.
I can’t believe you have spent so much money when you don’t even know what you want to use it for. It would have been cheaper to build a state of the art facility from scratch rather than pay for the up keep of of a listed building that will need a lot of money to make it useable.
Normally I support DC but this is a ridiculous dicision.
What is the current full annual maintenance cost of the existing buildings and grounds?
What is the anticipated annual maintenance cost of any development on this site?
Where will these ongoing costs come from?
What a fantastic purchase ! Lets hope we in the area can all benefit from this facility and get a car boot sale running ASAP.!
We should all be trying to use ,and re-use , to stop the wanton waste of our planets resources making more new rubbish.
If its old it must be gold
How Crazy is this, investing in a property with no plans, from a council that can’t even look after our roads road signs, drains and verges.
Thoroughly support the purchase. Great concern that photographs and other memorabilia within the school, as greatly valued by former pupils and staff, are respectfully treated and made available to those who might wish to retain them.
Shaftesbury used to have a grammar school, maybe the time has come to have another one and if it included boarding, then it could be made available for children from all of Dorset.
With regards to St Mary’s school acquisition. Would it be possible to allot part of it for respite care for adults with learning difficulties?
My youngest daughter was Downs Syndrome and suitable respite care was virtually impossible to find. There are plenty of services for under 18’s but for adults it is very, very poor.
With excellent sports facilities and accomodation it would seem to make sense to me to move the boarders out there, sell Barton Hill for development and spend the proceeds on a decent all weather cycle route connecting the two sites (St Marys and the main school)
What’s the point in buying something that probably has high maintenance costs, for the community who are no longer allowed to commune.
Easy spending other peoples money isn’t it !
Try and sell it on for a profit asap.
Maybe turn it into a re-education center for anti-vaxxers etc.
Looks to be a good decision
What a shocking waste of money! Especially at a time like this!
Classic case of wasted money. Not even a costed plan of its proposed use and upkeep costs. To deliver the services cllr Flower describes could surely be achieved from far more economical buildings?
Great acquisition, 55 acres – need for a new primary school once the Redrow and Barratt developments are completed ?
Surely the school itself can be used by disadvantaged and handicapped children – almost without major modification. Yewstock, I’m told cannot offer any additional places. We should offer help where its needed, many families struggling to look after such children.