A pupil referral unit with 72 students is set to move to a former care home building more than two miles away. The Spring Lane Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), Radcliffe, is set to be demolished along with the nearby pool and leisure centre as a new high school for the town is built on that site.
Bury Council has said it wishes to temporarily relocate the pupil referral unit to Spurr House on Pole Lane, Unsworth. The proposed site is currently a disused building which was previously a short stay residential home for the elderly.
Planning documents published earlier this month state Spurr House will be remodelled internally and extended to provide the required accommodation to house the PRU. If the plans are given approval the school will have standard classrooms, specialist teaching spaces and staff and administration areas.
The car park to the building frontage will be extended, boundary fencing will be put up and a multi-use games play area will be built to the rear of the site.
A design and access statement with the plans said: “Following extension and remodelling, it is anticipated that the building will accommodate approximately 72 students, together with site staff comprising of school leaders, teachers, pastoral staff and administration and support staff.”
Bury Council said the site has been under consideration for some time and the feasibility of the PRU relocated there had been studied by a multi-disciplined team of designers and stakeholders. The Pole Lane site is around two miles east of the current school site and is next to housing, Unsworth Academy and Unsworth Cricket and Tennis Club.
The application, added: “The site is currently un-occupied and is beginning to fall into a state of disrepair. There is currently no economic use for the building in its current form.
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“In the past, the building has provided services and revenue for a short stay residential home for the elderly although there is currently no foreseeable requirement for the use of this building in this way again. The car park to the front of the building currently provides parking spaces for eight vehicles.”
Last year, Bury Council agreed to transfer the current Spring Lane site to the Department for Education (DfE) and Star Academy Trust, who will operate the school. It is due to open next year but delays in tendering and selecting contractors mean the planned new high school will likely open in temporary buildings.
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