A former school site could be developed into a new facility for children with autistic spectrum conditions.

Bovington Park was declared surplus to the Dorset County Council’s requirements approximately 18 months ago, but the council has struggled to dispose of the site.

The council has since sought expressions of interest for the site and two proposals have been submitted, by The Bovington Tank Museum and The Delta Education Trust.

The Delta Education Trust has put forward a proposal to acquire the main 10-acre site, which incorporates the existing former Bovington Middle School building, for the development of a free school to provide for children with autistic spectrum conditions and related anxiety and speech and language needs.

The school would serve up to 100 children in Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset, and all three councils have identified a gap in provision in this area, with pupils having to travel long distances to schools out of the area.

Their proposal is for DCC to grant Delta a 125 year lease at a peppercorn rent.

The Tank Museum also made an offer for the site. The bid is on the basis that the buildings are demolished and they have accounted for the potential cost of that demolition in their proposal. They offered £250,000 for the building with DCC taking on the responsibility for the demolition, or £57,000 with the Tank Museum taking on the responsibility for demolition.

The site was discussed at the recent cabinet meeting and members unanimously agreed to use the county council’s general powers of competence to permit it to grant a 125 year lease of the 10 acre site to the Delta Education Trust. The county council came under fire for spending £45,000 of taxpayers’ money on refurbishing an old school site – months before deciding to sell it.

But the county council has defended the move, saying the sale of the Bovington Park and Business Centre would result in ‘significant savings’. And the authority said the centre earned more than £60,000 following the refurbishment.