Portland special school decision may be known by end of week

Senior officials from the Department of Education are expected to travel to Dorset this Thursday for talks with Dorset Council over the future of the site off Lerret Road, Osprey Quay.

Portland councillor Susan Cocking says the decision has been held up for so long that she believed it must have sunk to the bottom of the department’s in-tray, gathering dust.

She said the site has been designated for pupils aged 14-19 with special needs for a number of years and had been told by South Dorset MP, Richard Drax, a year ago that the matter remained under consideration, after concerns were raised about the delay.

Cllr Cocking said at a Dorchester meeting on Monday that Portland residents thought it appalling that the site had remained empty for so long with children from Portland and Weymouth needing special educational support having to be transported out of the immediate area.

“It has been such a waste of a facility,” she told a Dorset Council Audit and Governance committee meeting.

Head of the council’s finance team said Aidan Dunn said officers’ shared the frustrations about the progress, confirming that a meeting would be held with Department officials in Dorset this Thursday and that the site was one of the items for discussion.

Aerial picture of the school site (Image: Google Maps)

It is understood that the delay has partially be caused by an argument over the liability of a retaining wall on part of the school site and who should accept responsibility.

It was almost exactly a year ago that The Department for Education confirmed that a Special Educational Needs (SEND) School on Portland would go ahead after South Dorset MP Richard Drax expressed concerns about a lack of a decision.

Dorset Council has been working with the Department for Education (DfE) on the new school, set to open at Osprey Quay – initially planned for September 2023 with up to 75 places for young people aged 14-19 years with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

At the time, speaking in Parliament, Mr Drax said: “We are all nervous that somehow it may disappear.”

The building, which appears to be generally in a good state of repair, was last opened to the public in December last year for the public inquiry into the plans for an incinerator plant for Portland.

The school hall in use in December 2023 for the incinerator public inquiry (Image: NQ)

Dorset Council, which arranged the accommodation, had to bring in giant industrial-style space heaters to try and maintain temperatures in the main school hall, although they were so noisy that they had to be switched off while the sessions took place.

In July 2023 Dorset Council approved a new layout for the school access with extra spaces for cars and buses  – ready for its use as a special needs school.

A landscaping scheme was also agreed at the time for the former primary school site.

Two electric vehicle charge points and air source heat pumps will be added to the site at the time the building works take place.