Officers back a 45-pupil SEND school in the former Southbourne Grove guest house, refused in February. 51 objected, 35 supported; vote 22 October.

A former guest house on Southbourne Road should become a school for up to 45 teenagers with special educational needs, BCP Council’s planning officers say.

The same plan was refused in February. Officers now say a new parking and drop-off layout fixes the road safety problems that sank it. Councillors on the Eastern BCP Planning Committee will decide on Thursday 22 October.

The building is Southbourne Grove House, at 96 Southbourne Road, BH6 3QQ. It faces Southbourne Green, with the shops of Southbourne Grove beyond. The application, P/26/03208/FUL, comes from the Connie Rothman Learning Trust.

Who the school is for

The trust already runs Connie Rothman School. The government’s schools register lists it as an independent special school at Christchurch Community Church on Millhams Street, Christchurch, about three miles east. It opened in October 2020.

The officers’ report gives these details of the school as it runs now and as planned:

  • 37 pupils attend today: 24 aged 11 to 15, and 13 in the sixth form
  • sixth formers attend for about 18 hours a week, at staggered times
  • a cap of 45 pupils, which would be a planning condition
  • 26 staff, 13 full time and 13 part time, equal to 20 full-time posts
  • open Monday to Friday, 9am to 3.30pm
  • no building work, apart from a cycle store at the front

BCP’s children’s services team commented on the plan. The report says the team called secondary and post-16 places “an area of sustained pressure within the local SEND system”. It said a small local setting could cut how far some children travel to school.

Why it was refused the first time

The first application, P/25/04517/FUL, was refused on 5 February 2026. The reasons were:

  • too many comings and goings at set times of day
  • not enough car parking
  • unsafe vehicle movements and more conflict with people on foot
  • no cycle parking

The council’s highways team had recommended refusal. It was worried about cars reversing out of a cramped forecourt onto Southbourne Road.

What has changed

The six parking spaces on the forecourt would become four wider spaces and a 6-metre drop-off bay. Officers say drivers could then turn on site and leave forwards.

Most pupils arrive by taxi, two or three to a car. The report expects:

  • about 12 vehicle trips at each peak now, rising to 15 at 45 pupils
  • a staggered morning drop-off from 8.30am to 9.15am, about one taxi every four and a half minutes
  • afternoon pick-up from 3.30pm to 4pm, after most traffic has gone
  • two or three staff marshalling every arrival and departure, as they do now in Christchurch
  • two staff spaces, plus two spaces kept free for drop-offs at peak times
  • 12 cycle spaces in a hangar and stands

A parking survey by the trust’s transport consultant found room in nearby streets for the two-space shortfall. The highways team now raises no objection.

The objections

Site notices went up on 5 August. The council received 51 objections, 35 letters of support and one other comment. Bournemouth Town Council did not respond.

Objectors raised highway safety, congestion, parking, noise from the garden, over-use of the site and the loss of a guest house. Supporters said the area needs SEND places and a school would be quieter than a hotel. The application goes to committee because more than 20 objections went against the officers’ view.

The loss of a guest house

Council policy only allows a hotel or guest house to close if it is no longer viable and has been marketed for at least 18 months. The report says the evidence is thin.

It calls the trust’s statement “contradictory”. The statement says the guest house has not traded for ten years, while its accounts and online reviews show it open until at least 2024. The trust gives no business plan. It reports 1,250 views of its sale listings but no viewings or offers.

Officers still back the change. They give “significant weight” to the need for SEND places. They also judge that losing one small hotel will not harm tourism across Bournemouth.

The conditions

If councillors agree, the permission would come with these conditions:

  • the building can only be a SEND school, for no more than 45 pupils a year
  • no more than eight pupils in the back garden at once, and only between 8am and 4pm on weekdays
  • new glazing and mechanical ventilation, so windows can stay shut
  • the parking and marshalling plan followed at all times
  • the parking, turning and cycle spaces built before the school opens

What it means for you

If you live near Southbourne Road, the decision is a week away. The committee meets at 10am on Thursday 22 October in the Civic Centre, Bournemouth, BH2 6DY. The agenda page has the report and the plans.

You can ask to speak, in person or online. The deadline is 10am on Wednesday 21 October. Objectors get five minutes in total, shared by up to two people, and supporters get the same. The agenda gives the contact details for registering.

The plan matters beyond Southbourne too. Specialist secondary places are scarce, as the council’s own children’s services team says. The council is adding places in mainstream schools: in September it named eight schools getting SEND inclusion bases. Its wider plan is in BCP’s SEND Reform Plan approved. For other applications near you, see our Bournemouth planning news page.

Sources