Plans for a new special needs school which would allow children to be educated where they live have resurfaced.

The Parallel Learning Trust has drawn up proposals to build a second Inspire Academy in Gillingham to increase the number of specialist school places in the area.

Parents have criticised the lack of special educational needs (SEN) school places in Medway with one youngster spending more than 100 days out of education due to a lack of suitable spaces.

It is hoped the centre will enable it to better meet the demand.

The new facility will be able to offer 160 spots to SEN pupils if it goes ahead – more than double the amount offered at the current site in Churchill Avenue, Chatham.

Head of Inspire Academy, Mark Burgiss, said: “We are really excited about the potential of the new build – we will be able to support so many more children and young people who have special needs than we can now, and in purpose-built, state-of-the-art facilities.

“The project and increased capacity will also offer pupils who are currently being educated out of the area – because of the lack of this type of specialist provision here – a chance to return to Medway for their education, benefiting them and their families as well as the local community more widely.

“We will be able to support so many more children and young people who have special needs than we can now...’

“We are extremely grateful to the Department for Education (DfE) and Medway Council for ensuring that this vital project can go ahead.”

The school will be funded by the DfE through its Free Schools programme meaning is paid for by the government but not run by the local authority – although the council will be contributing.

It will be built on Greenfields, at the junction of Cornwallis Avenue and Yokosuka Way, spanning across two floors, and will provide education for secondary school and sixth form students.

If plans are approved, the building will be split into two to create dedicated areas for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder and those with social, emotional, and mental health needs.

It is expected the project will be complete and in place by September 2025.

A consultation event was held on Wednesday (November 8) in Woodlands Road to allow residents to learn more about the team behind the school before planning permission is sought.

Plans for a school at the site have been in the works since 2018 but have faced numerous delays.

At the time Medway Council’s then-cabinet agreed to lease the land to its commercial arm, which was then known as Medway Commercial Group (MCG), to build an independent facility to cater for SEN places.

It was a controversial decision as councillors questioned MCG’s ability to deliver large-scale programmes.

Only a year later the firm was dropped from overseeing the development and it was later accused of incompetence over other projects it had taken care of such as CCTV cameras across Medway.

It was thought the school would be opened by 2020.