Gidea Park Special Needs School Approved By Council Despite Concerns Over Loss of Playing Field.

A new special needs school in Gidea Park with space for more than 300 pupils has been approved by Havering Council writes Sebastian Mann.

Proposals for the Balgore Lane special education needs (SEND) school, situated on a playing field, were green-lit last night by Havering Council’s strategic planning committee.

It will still need to go before the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority ahead of its referral to the Secretary of State.

The school will cater to students with social, emotional, and mental health needs, Autistic Spectrum Condition (ASC) and severe learning difficulties between the ages of four and 19.

The council says it will help meet a “pressing need” for additional SEN school places in the borough and “will help ensure students are taught in specialist, purpose-built buildings specifically suited to their particular learning needs”.

However, critics of the scheme say it could worsen traffic congestion in the area.

Conservative councillor David Taylor said it was a “much-needed” facility but its location “raised some questions”. It said he “didn’t know” if there was a sufficient number of drop-off spaces and there needed to be “conversations” with Transport for London (TfL) about the bus capacity.

Early plans showed there will be 41 bays for staff, while pupils will be dropped off and collected by minibuses or their parents or guardians.

“We’re going to have a lot of people with mobility needs all accessing the site at the same time,” he told the committee. “Perhaps TfL needs to start tweaking those timetables.”

Classrooms and facilities in the two-storey building will be split up for different pupils, depending on their ability. The plans also include a suite of therapy rooms, assembly halls, and a multi-use sports pitch suitable for children’s five-a-side football.

In July, however, Sports England fundamentally objected to the scheme due to the permanent loss of a playing field in the area.

At a meeting in the summer, Labour councillor Jane Keane said the loss of the field was “reason not to pursue it” due to issues with obesity in the borough.

The council hopes the school will take the pressure off its social care budget, having overspent by a total of £31.2million.

In some instances, the council pays for SEND children to attend specialist schools outside the borough due to a shortage of places.

It is slated to open in September 2027.

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