SEN 'inclusion hub' approved for learning centre

A new centre providing four pupils with special educational needs is to be built in Dorset.

Described on its application documents as an "inclusion hub", the facility will be based at the Monkton Park site on the southern edge of Dorchester, which is home to the Dorchester Learning Centre.

The timber-clad building will be constructed off-site, and then put together at Monkton Park to minimise disruption to pupils and staff.

Plans for the building show classrooms at either end - one for each pupil - as well as breakout rooms, kitchen and staff areas, storage and sensory rooms, and outside recreation areas.

Part of the proposal includes a secure outside space enclosed by 1.8m (5.9ft) of fencing.

The hub will initially be used by four "complex needs pupils", though the building is capable of being adapted for more in the future.

The site is classed as being in open countryside within the Dorset National Landscape area.

Development is only normally allowed there in special circumstances, and this applies to the school, according to Dorset Council planning officers.

The site has been used for various special educational needs (SEN) for about 60 years.

The area planning committee also heard that three mature trees, each said to be nearing the end of their life, would be removed prior to construction of the unit, with 18 additional trees planted as part of the landscaping proposals.

Dorset Council has been asked for the expected cost of the development but has not yet responded.

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