WOKINGHAM Borough Council has nominated parts of Rooks Nest as a site for a new school.
At an executive meeting last month, the council agreed plans to apply for funding for two new schools for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Currently, the borough has two SEND schools, Addington in Woodley and Chiltern Way Academy in Wokingham, with Oak Tree in Winnersh due to open September 2023.
Cllr Prue Bray, executive member for children’s services, said the borough is experiencing a “rapid increase” in demand for the provision, which is why the application has been made.
Cllr Bray said: “Currently, we are having to send children to schools outside the borough, which means they have long travel times to school, and we are having to pay for their transport.
“So, we are being proactive and have applied to the Department for Education for a grant to build two new SEND schools in the borough.
“The future of the property the council owns at Rooks Nest Farm is yet to be decided. If it were to come forward as a SEND school, the new school would provide places for 100 children from across Wokingham borough.”
To select the two locations in the grant application, officers looked at council owned land across the borough and identified parts of Rooks Nest and Grays Farm as “suitable and in accessible locations”.
Cllr Bray added: “A SEND school would only take up a relatively small part of the Rooks Nest site. A school there would be centrally located, so would be suitable for children from all parts of the borough.
“If we receive the grant, we will prepare a planning application which would include a traffic assessment to determine what road improvements would be necessary to prevent a negative impact on the surrounding area.”
Cllr Charles Margetts, Conservative councillor for Finchampstead North, has campaigned for the site to remain undeveloped and feels it is the wrong location for a SEND school.
He said:“It’s down a narrow country road, there’s no pavements, there’s minimal public transport, it’s the loss of the gap between Finchampstead and Barkham, it will change the area of the countryside and its countryside in the local plan.”
Cllr Margetts believes the council should look at the former Farley Hill Primary School as a potential site for the provision.
He said: “Wokingham Borough Council still owns the old Farley Hill Primary School. It is about the right size, but it’s been sitting there closed for nearly two years now and that’s literally two miles from the Rooks Nest site.”
Cllr Margetts has also suggested that Cala Homes has offered to build a SEND school, as an alternative to the primary school agreed in its planning consent in Arborfield.
He said: “Primary schools in Finchampstead are undersubscribed at the moment, there are places at all of them because there aren’t enough children in the age group to fill them.
“So Cala Homes have spoken to the council and said ‘what about if we build this as a SEND school?’.
“Now this would cost the council no money because the developer has already agreed to pay for the whole thing.”
Cllr Margetts agrees the borough needs more SEND schools but thinks the council should consider its options to save money and time.
He said: “It’s true that there needs to be more SEND provision, 100%. People need to have options within the borough and as quickly as possible.
“We just think there are far more sustainable better sites that can be delivered quicker which doesn’t involve building of green fields and settlement gaps.”
Earlier this year a petition of more than 1,000 signatures was presented to the council to stop any development at Rooks Nest.
This was supported by Cllr Margetts as well as fellow Finchampstead Conservative councillors, Cllr Rebecca Margetts and Cllr Peter Harper.
Campaigners felt the site was unsuitable for any development due to concerns over infrastructure and the amount of roadworks in the area throughout the last two years.
Cllr Bray acknowledged that some residents don’t want the site to be built on, but believes it is one of the only suitable locations for a new SEND school.
She said: “We’re doing this because we know how important it is to our children with SEND and their families to have good quality schools near to where they live.
“We know people don’t want any development at Rooks Nest farm. But, there is an urgent need for more SEND provision in the borough and very few possible places it can go.
“Sometimes there are no perfect options and you just have to do the best you can with the choices you have.”
The original version of this article was illustrated with a picture showing a sign of Rooks Nest Wood. It is not the same site. Apologies for our error.
