(UK) Blackburn: $2.3M for post-16 special needs center; $3.4M for SPED unit extension

June 16, 2025, The Shuttle: Plans submitted for multi-million-pound new Special Educational Needs centre in Blackburn  

NE England

A new planning application has been submitted for a multi-million-pound post 16 Special Educational Needs centre in Blackburn town centre.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has successfully secured £1.7m [$2.3M] of new Government funding that could be used to help transform the vacant Bridge House building, close to Blackburn Railway Station. . . .

Councillor Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:

It’s fantastic that we’re now in a position to submit these plans as part of our bid to transform the Bridge House building into a post-16 Special Educational Needs centre. . . .

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 that. . . .

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. . . .

This new planning application comes just weeks after approval was given for a £2.5m [$3.4M] extension to Newfield School, which offers specialist education for children and young people aged between two and 19 years old.

That extension aims to provide new places for 65 pupils with special educational needs.

The Bridge House project could see the numbers of post-16 pupils taught by Crosshill also increase to more than 70, to help meet the needs of an anticipated increase over the coming years. . . .