Charlton House special school plan approved

PLANS to turn the former Charlton House Care Home in Keynsham into a special school have been approved.

The building, which adjoins the separate Hawthorn Care Home, has been vacant for two years.

Bath & North East Somerset Council voted to close Charlton House in 2024, just four years after it took over the running of the care home, after a damming 2022 Care Quality Commission report which found that people living there had suffered “avoidable harm.”

In deciding to close the home, the council said it would explore whether the building could be turned into a residential special school.

Now that is set to become a reality after the council’s planning committee voted unanimously to grant planning permission for the scheme on July 8.

The special school will have spaces for 30 children with special educational needs and disabilities.

A statement submitted with the planning application said: “The redevelopment of the vacant Charlton House, a modern former care home in Keynsham, will create a high-quality and inclusive educational environment, allowing pupils to remain within their community while reducing reliance on costly out-of-area placements.”

A shortage of special schools in the Bath area means the council is spending £10 million a year to transport children with special educational needs and disabilities to schools as far away as northern Oxfordshire. The new school will include specialist classrooms, therapy and sensory spaces, and “calm breakout spaces.”

In addition to the 30 places at the day school, the first floor will be converted into two self-contained children’s homes. Both homes will house four children with their own kitchen and dining room, lounge, and staff accommodation.

The council’s planning officers had recommended that the plans be approved.

The planning committee was told that the school would be run by Threeways Academy. There would be a traffic management plan and parking spaces for staff. There was also on-street parking in the area as well as public car parks.

In a statement to the committee, Councillor George Leach (Lib Dem, Keynsham North) said he supported the application, which represented a key investment by B&NES Council in children with special educational needs, ensuring they had access to the specialist environments required for their learning, wellbeing, and long-term development.

Repurposing Charlton House offered an opportunity to make full and meaningful use of an existing asset and transform it into a space that would benefit some of the most vulnerable young people in our area, he said.

Approving the application would help secure a stable, safe, and supportive setting where children with additional needs could reach their full potential.

Cllr Hal MacFie (Lib Dem, Keynsham East) spoke in support of the scheme, saying there was no such facility currently in Keynsham and the site was in a central location.

John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporting Service

Pictured, the plan for the new special school at Charlton House (Image: Kendall Kingscott/Bath & North East Somerset Council)