COUNCILLORS are to consider proposals to build a new school on the site of former high-rise flats in Grimsby.
The Department for Education, which originally allocated funding to the project in 2023 following a bid by the Council a year earlier, announced in December that it would offer Councils across the country the opportunity to spend the cash on other projects to improve education for children with additional needs.
Since then, North East Lincolnshire Council officers have had extensive discussions with partners and considered the options available, including investing further in resource specialist provisions similar to those unveiled recently at schools in Healing, Scartho and Waltham.
Now, members of the Council’s Cabinet are set to consider recommendations to proceed as planned with the free school for children with social and emotional mental health (SEMH) needs.
The report, which will be discussed at a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on Wednesday 11 February 2026, highlights the benefits that the proposed school would bring to an area in need of regeneration.
The proposed site, which once housed the high-rise flats in Grimsby, is now vacant. It’s thought that this development could bring a new purpose to a vacant brownfield site and act as a catalyst for community renewal.
Councillors previously pledged £1m of capital funding towards the project, though late last year a report from the environment agency revealed that the project would need a further £2.2-2.3-million for the project to reduce the risk of flooding.
The Cabinet report adds that the Council is likely to make annual savings from children not having to travel out of the area for their education.
The Council’s Cabinet will consider the proposals at a meeting at Grimsby Town Hall on Wednesday 11 February 2026.
To read the Cabinet papers in full, visit: 13.-SEMH-Free-School-Decision-Cabinet-Report.pdf.
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