DORSET County Council will continue its ownership of Monkton Park in efforts to explore options for its future.

In June the cabinet members considered a report on the disposal of Monkton Park and a proposed sale and leaseback to Dorset Development Partnership. After a detailed debate, it was concluded that the whole of Monkton Park should be declared surplus and for a report to be submitted to the cabinet this month setting out the options for the site.

A potential option, discussed in Wednesday's cabinet meeting, is to use it as a Social Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) special school as none of the special schools in Dorset cater for children whose primary need is SEMH.

The summary business case explains that at the end of March 2017, 72 children with SEMH were accessing their education outside of Dorset.

It reads: "This is obviously not in the best interest of the child and is generally a more expensive option. The current average cost of a placement per annum outside Dorset is £56,000 (based on 2016/17 figures), where the average local authority rate for a special

school place is £19,800. Therefore local authority places cost £36,200 less than those outside the county."

In the first year the expectation is that at least 15 children would require a place at the new school across all age groups. The forecast is for seven of these children to be returning from an existing out of county provision, and a further eight children would be new admissions. Therefore the saving for the local authority would be £253,400 across a full financial year.

The main body of Monkton Park is used by Children’s Services and the Youth Offending Team (YOT) predominately as offices.

It is intended that these buildings will be vacated by September 2018.

There is a standalone building, Marvin House, leased to Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust (DHUFT), expiring in 2036. The service provided from there is CAMHS Swifts service which is for young people with learning disabilities. The tenant has indicated that it would be willing to move from the building if suitable alternative accommodation can be provided on a rent-free basis.

The final element of the site is the Learning Centre, although the buildings that the Learning Centre occupies are old and no longer fit for purpose.

Tony Ferrari, cabinet member for community and resources, presented the report at a meeting on Wednesday.

He said: "There are so many potential options for this site, and this will not be the last use.

"There will be lots of alternatives for the site."