On behalf of Tilbury Douglas Construction and the Department for Education, Iceni Projects’ Manchester Office managed the planning application and public consultation process concerning the construction of a new specialist SEND school, to be located at the Heywood Sports Village, Rochdale.

The school is specifically designed to cater for children aged 11- 19 who have an EHCP (Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan) and a diagnosis of ASC (Autistic spectrum conditions) and may also have other needs such as communication and/or sensory processing needs.

The school will be funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and operated by the New Bridge Multi Academy Trust.

The planning application proposed the erection of a singular two storey building providing places for up to 76 students. The application also included the creation of new vehicular and pedestrian access from West Starkey Street, provision of a sports pitch, MUGA, habitat area and area for a forest school. The site landscaping will also include orchard trees, wildflower grasses with mown paths and timber growing boxes. The provision of these high-quality facilities, sensory spaces and outdoor learning spaces will meet the wide range of needs that the attending children may have.

As the proposed site was designated as a playing field in the Rochdale Local Plan, the application was required to off-set the loss of the playing field area. The project team worked closely with the education and leisure departments of Rochdale Council to propose an off-site solution to mitigate against the loss of the designated playing field, proposing pitch improvements at other nearby playing field sites. Liaison with Sport England was therefore required during the determination stage, and whilst they maintained their objection to the scheme, the planning committee felt able to support the officer recommendation to approve the application unanimously.

Iceni’s Manchester team managed the project from the pre-application stage through to determination. The team submitted the application in summer 2023 and were able to secure a resolution to grant by planning committee by December 2023.