An academy has issued a statement after the site where its new school will be built was subject to a suspected arson attack. Six fire engines were called to a fire at the former Nottingham College Clarendon campus, in Pelham Avenue, at 1.54am on Thursday, May 5.
It is currently not known if anyone was injured but the fire is said to have damaged the inside of what remains of the empty campus. Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service later said a full investigation had been completed and deemed it a "suspicious" deliberate ignition, which had then been passed to Nottinghamshire Police.
Work started last year under plans to transform the site into a new 1,200 secondary school called Bluecoat Trent, with demolition underway at the site before the fire broke out. The Archway Learning Trust, who will be running the school when it is finished in 2023, have now spoken out on the fire.
A spokesperson for Archway Learning Trust said: “We are aware of the fire at the former Nottingham College Clarendon campus. We are monitoring the situation and will be working closely with DfE and partners to continue plans to transform the site for Bluecoat Trent Academy, a new secondary school which opened in September 2021 and currently based at Archway Learning Trust’s Aspley site.”
Nottingham College, which now has a new city hub in Canal Street, previously transferred ownership of the building to LocalED, the arms-length property company belonging to the Department for Education. More than £5million in council grants will be used to transform the college building into a new secondary school amid rising pupil numbers in Nottingham.
Nottingham City Council recently gave notice that prior planning approval wasn't necessary so demolition work at the old college site could start. The DfE will manage the redevelopment and new school build until it is ready for Archway Learning Trust to take over.
It comes just weeks after a fire ripped through another former Nottingham College site in Clifton. The fire left a trail of shattered glass and blown out windows.
