Plans to create two specialist learning centres for vulnerable youngsters in Mansfield area

The first is to convert a three-bed residential property at Redcot House, 14 Hermitage Lane into a learning base for children, aged ten to 16, who are unable to attend mainstream schools.

And the second is to turn the former caretaker’s bungalow at Brunts Academy, The Park into classrooms for youngsters with mental health and learning difficulties.

Both proposals are the subject of planning applications that have been lodged with Mansfield District Council.

The Hermitage Lane property, which also includes a sizeable, detached garage, single-storey office and wraparound garden, has been vacant since it was bought in January 2018.

A previous plan to demolish the garage and replace it with two extra three-bedroom homes was refused by the council, and an appeal dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate.

The applicant is listed as Shanita Baldeo, but a planning statement says the learning institution has been commissioned by Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire County Councils, with Phoenix ND Education Ltd earmarked as the prospective tenant to run it.

Mansfield-based Phoenix ND, founded and operated by mum Eloise Barnett, is a recognised specialist provider of alternative education for pupils with additional needs.

The statement says: “This would aid kids who sorely need more attention and direction to lead them towards a more successful adult route by preventing anti-social behaviour.

"To provide for these children, who are not as fortunate as mainstream students, great care and consideration have gone into the change of use proposal from a residential to a commercial property.”

Under the plan, the non-residential centre would open between 9.30 am and 2.30 pm during school terms and also for a week at Easter and two weeks in the summer.

There would be six to 15 youngsters on site at any one time, supervised by three members of staff. The children are described as having “a spectrum of neurodiversity requirements but no physical disabilities”.

The statement says the plan would include off-street parking space, but no structural alterations to the buildings would be required.

It adds: “Neighbouring residences would not be adversely affected by noise or traffic disturbance.”

The caretaker bungalow planning application has been submitted not by Brunts but by Sarah Baker, who is chief executive officer of the TEAM Education Trust.

The trust oversees three schools – Stubbin Wood and Model Village Primary at Shirebrook and Whaley Thorns Community Primary and Nursery – and collaborates with ten others across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

A statement submitted to the council says the bungalow, which comprises lounge, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms, plus a garden, driveway, garage, outbuilding and shed, has not been used for several years and is no longer required by Brunts.

The idea is to convert it into two specialist classrooms, while the surrounding garden would be redesigned to provide an outdoor learning and play area. There would also be a staff room, kitchen, toilets and a sensory/intervention room.

Only minor alteration work to the buildings, such as replacement doors and windows, would be needed.

The statement concludes that the new base would be a place “for children to learn and play in a quiet, private setting”. It adds: “The change of use should have no detrimental impact on neighbours.”