Published Friday 2 May 2025 at 10:33
A new planning application is set to be submitted for a multi-million-pound post 16 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Centre in Blackburn town centre.
Blackburn with Darwen Council has successfully secured £1.7m of new Government funding that could be used to help transform the vacant Bridge House building.
And it’s already in talks for it to become part of Crosshill School, under the leadership of the Oak Learning Partnership Academy Trust.
Now, a new report has been published paving the way for a planning application to be submitted.
It’s expected to include proposals for six new classrooms in the historic building, catering for more than 70 pupils aged 16-18, as well as a new café – where students will be able to learn valuable catering and hospitality skills.
Councillor Quesir Mahmood, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Growth and Development, said:
What a fantastic scheme this could be to transform the Bridge House building into a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Centre.
The building has been vacant for many years and so it requires significant investment to bring it back into use, but we’ve been successful in securing the new Government funding to help towards the project.
We have big ambitions for our borough – for our residents and for our towns – and we’re on a mission to ensure no-one is left behind, this is a great example of us working hard to achieve that.
Cassidy and Ashton has been appointed as architects for the scheme, which is expected to cost around £3.5m.
As well as the Government and council investment, the local authority is also looking to use Section 106 money from new building developments.
And they’re in talks with the neighbouring Blackburn Youth Zone to allow for the Crosshill students to use the state-of-the-art facilities there if the scheme is progressed.
Impressively, Crosshill School’s post-16 provision is already rated by Ofsted as being Outstanding.
Councillor Julie Gunn, also the Council’s Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Children, Young People and Education, said:
We want to give all our children and young people the very best start to their lives, and this could be a wonderful new centre for those with special educational needs and disabilities.
The idea of incorporating a café that would be open to the public is particularly exciting as it’ll give the pupils hands-on experience while they learn valuable skills in catering and hospitality, creating important career pathways for them.
With impressive new facilities just unveiled at the neighbouring Blackburn Youth Zone too – supported by the Youth Investment Fund – it opens-up wider opportunities for them to be able to access those facilities, which would be right on their doorstep.
And all of this comes on the back of our Children’s Services being rated Good by Ofsted in a glowing report last week, which is absolutely brilliant.
The project could see the numbers of post-16 pupils taught by Crosshill almost triple to 72, to help meet the needs of an anticipated increase.
The Executive Member Decision published today (Friday, May 2nd) provides a full update on the scheme which has been subject to extensive survey and feasibility studies since the Government funding was confirmed in 2024.
It also seeks approvals to start enabling works, including a full strip out, and advanced repair works, as well as permission to procure a contractor.
It outlines that more detailed investigations are also required around a culvert which runs under the building, which was once an office and power supply station for the Blackburn and Over Darwen Tramways Company Ltd.
A planning application is expected to be submitted in the coming weeks.