When NHS Rushcliffe Clinical Commissioning Group relocated from Easthorpe House to new premises in June 2020, the future of the Grade 2 listed Ruddington property looked rather uncertain.
With the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing by then, for its landlords Carlton Street Trading finding new tenants for this large but attractive building off Loughborough Road was likely to prove more difficult than usual. Thankfully for them, in the interim, the generous and picturesque grounds have enabled both an open-air ‘Castle Rock Brewery Beer Festival’ and a ‘Pop-Up Beer Garden’ run by Annie’s Burger Shack to be held there whilst many Coronavirus restrictions remained in place.
Now a lease has been provisionally agreed and a planning application submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council by Polaris Children’s Services to turn these former offices into classrooms. If it’s successful, Easthorpe House will become a ‘special school’ providing places for around 80 pupils aged 7 to 16, creating approximately 40 jobs.
Polaris says: “We support children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health difficulties (SEMH), communication and interaction, cognition, and learning needs, and our experienced education teams work hard to deliver highly innovative and personalised curriculums that are tailored to individual pupil’s requirements. The demand for this provision is growing and we are working closely with Nottinghamshire County Council and other neighbouring authorities to establish the Easthorpe School.”
No structural changes are planned to the historic building and Polaris plans to utilize the existing layout to provide a number of classrooms, plus therapy rooms, activity space and office areas. However, it’s proposed to install security film on low windows and fencing of the grounds to keep the children safe onsite.
You can find all the documents associated with this planning application >>HERE<<.
If you wish to comment on these plans – 22/00506/FUL | Change of use to school | Easthorpe House, 165 Loughborough Road, Ruddington, Nottinghamshire NG11 6LJ – you can do so >>HERE<< by the deadline of Saturday April 30th 2022.
