The City Council is seeking the views of the community on the construction of Ellesmere Specialist Sports College on land formerly occupied by Riverside School. Whilst the local authority does not have a statutory obligation to consult on this decision, as the relocation is within 2 miles of the college’s current site, we are very keen to hear your views regarding the proposed construction and any opportunities for complementary community facilities within the construction.
This former school site covers 22.6 acres and there is legislation that ensures the playing fields are protected in order to meet the future needs of schools and their communities.
There have been two, complementary, proposals for the future use of this site. One is being funded by the Football Foundation and was consulted on under a separate proposal called The Riverside Football Development Proposal. This proposal has now been approved.
The second is to re-construct an existing school on the site. As part of Leicester City’s Building Schools for the Future programme, Ellesmere College has been identified as a suitable candidate. Ellesmere is a Special School with 250 pupils, with additional students attending on a part-time basis. All students who attend Ellesmere have a range of complex learning needs including autism and speech and language difficulties which require specialist provision.
Ellesmere became a Specialist Sports College in 2006 and is affiliated to the Youth Sports Trust. However, at its current site, the College has no playing fields and only one hard play area. Relocation to a larger site with substantial playing fields would allow Ellesmere to meet their aspirations of becoming a local and regional centre for disability sporting excellence as well as a hub for community activities.
This new development could offer the opportunity for extended outside sports facilities as well as greatly improved indoor facilities, both of which could be considered for community use out of school hours. For example on the questionnaire we have listed some suggestions for ways that community groups and individuals could benefit from the proposed development, but we would be very interested in hearing your ideas as well.
As well as this consultation there will be further opportunities to input into the design and access arrangements for this site through the planning process which will hold a formal statutory consultation at the appropriate time.
Ellesmere College is in Phase 5 of the Building Schools for the Future programme, which means that any new building work would not take place until approximately January 2013. In the meantime the current building on the site will be demolished to reduce the risk of vandalism and potential health and safety hazards.
