Dorset Council has unveiled ambitious ideas to transform the St Mary’s site near Shaftesbury potentially providing better educational opportunities for Dorset children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Dorset Council wants to work with local people to create a new school which it hopes will be the centrepiece of a wider campus offering excellent educational and community facilities for Dorset children and adults.
Local people, community and stakeholder groups are being asked to examine the proposed plans and share their views when a public consultation starts on 4 February. All views will be carefully considered before final decisions are made.
Cllr Spencer Flower, Leader of Dorset Council, said: “We are very ambitious for this site and for our children and young people who have special educational needs (SEND). I’m pleased that we have been able to secure St Mary’s so it can remain a resource for our communities and benefit the people of Dorset for generations to come. Importantly this move could also save revenue expenditure in the longer term.
“Currently pupils with special educational needs often have to travel far outside Dorset, as there is just not enough educational provision closer to home. This is not good for Dorset children and young people. It also costs significantly more, as buying this external provision outside of our county is more expensive and travel costs are much higher too. It is also worth noting that opportunities to secure sites like this for Dorset are very rare: it would cost a great deal more, and take several years, to build such a wonderful facility like this from scratch. This is a clear example of investing to save, fitting with the ethos of being a bold and ambitious council
“We now want to work with local people and groups to create an amazing facility that will be a community and educational resource for people in Dorset of all ages. It is a fantastic facility set in substantial grounds of about 55 acres. This offers exciting potential for many other community and service uses too, which we will be exploring in partnership with local people and community groups, so together we can get the maximum benefit from this investment in the interest of Dorset residents”.
The former St Mary’s School site comprises 165,000 sq ft of mixed use accommodation set within grounds of 55 acres. It is suitable for a broad range of services and community uses, which could also include provision for Dorset children with special educational needs and disabilities, supported living for our care leavers, provision for adults with educational needs and disabilities, as well as a possible site for businesses to boost our local economy and much more besides. Dorset Council is committed to working with local people and community groups to get the mixture of activity right to maximise the investment.
A growing number of Dorset children and young people have special educational needs and disabilities, and Dorset Council has a statutory duty to deliver educational provision for them. The funding for the purchase of the St Mary’s site has come from the council’s capital budget, and the use of the site is expected to offset revenue expenditure that would otherwise have been incurred elsewhere by the council.
Dorset Council will be providing further details of its vision and preferred options for the site when the consultation launches next month (4 February). Dorset Council is committed to listening to people’s views, taking them into account where possible and progressing the project in partnership with our community.
We need more resident school as there none in Dorset what can deal with challenging behaviour all other school up and down Country would be Beneficial I have one in Dorset
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (Dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/st-marys-survey) where all views will be collected.
I would like to see the facility used by everyone so that it is open during the evening and weekends to public and private functions. This must not be an exclusive property of limited use. Also the grounds need to be adapted to all private and public use for sports of all kind. This building and its grounds can bring in a good revenue if managed efficiently through a business head.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
Excellent and exciting initiative !
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
Excellent- I look forward to reading details in due course.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
It would seem an ideal site to set up a residential adult education centre offering day, week and weekend courses on a variety of arts, humanities and science subjects. Somerset County Council runs such an establishment at Dillington, Ilminster. Until Covid intervened it was well attended and well liked. Over the years my wife and I have attended many courses there.
2 other similar establishments have closed recently, leaving an opening for competition for Dillington (The WI college Denman, near Oxford, and Wiltshire CC establisment at Urchfont). Shaftesbury is ideally placed, geographically, and St Mary’s already has classrooms and accommodation available
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
This is utter madness. Have you learned nothing about inclusion?
This is a return to hiding people with disabilities away from wider society. All people want to be part of their local community as has been highlighted in innumerable reports and government policies.
A very misguided vanity project!! The money would b far better spent promoting inclusion and access in local areas.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
Well done, I support this.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
Surely the use of St Mary’s being such an old building and all of the very costly problems that causes or brings with it. Wouldn’t it be a better, to design a specially developed new build with up to date plumbing etc. rather than trying to adapt something it was not meant for, and never really quite works.
Thank you for your comments.
We have some further key information posted on our website which explains why we would consider the former St Mary’s school to be suitable if it were to become a school for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/key-information-about-the-st-marys-site.aspx
Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (Dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/st-marys-survey) where all views will be collected.
I feel that this project is an excellent one for the area and for those children and adults with learning disabilities who desparately need help. It will also be a great benefit for the people living around Shaftesbury who love this area and feel a part of it.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
A sound investment for a much needed facility- well done
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
The idea of bringing children back in to county, increasing quality and reducing cost is great. My fears though are that this is apart from the community and that is concentrated in one place.
Thank you for your comments. Please also take a moment to feed your views back through the survey (https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/business-consumers-licences/dorset-property/current-building-projects/former-st-marys-school-site-shaftesbury.aspx) where all views will be collected.
I hope this will not end up being another Phoenix House – set up at huge expense only for it to be decided that it wasn’t what was wanted