A FLAGSHIP project to bring the borough's scattered services for disabled children under one roof has moved a step closer...

A FLAGSHIP project to bring the borough's scattered services for disabled children under one roof has moved a step closer.

Construction workers have laid the first concrete slabs for the Hackney Child Development Centre (CDC) in Downs Park Road.

The aim is to bring all the borough's services for children with disabilities into a building "fit for the 21st century".

Parents, children and carers will be able to use the facility and get help and support when it opens next spring.

The project is a partnership between The Learning Trust, Hackney Council and the City and Hackney Primary Care Trust.

They found many parents were confused by the range of services offered in different places across the borough.

The two-storey building is being erected alongside the Petchey Academy at the corner of Downs Park Road and Cecilia Road.

The secondary school, which specialises in health care and medical science, will work closely with the CDC.

Construction team Balfour Beatty invited dignitaries for a tour of the site last Thursday afternoon.

Jane Winder, chairwoman of City and Hackney Primary Care Trust, said: "All the different organisations have worked together to make this possible.

"That sounds really simple, but it's not simple, and it's a huge credit to staff that this is now happening."

Alan Wood, chief executive of The Learning Trust, said: "This is something for which The Learning Trust, the health authority and the local authority have worked together on for four years now, so actually to see the idea coming to fruition is very exciting.

"It's almost there, we can see it now. We can see the construction workers are busy and soon we will have a splendid building."

Cllr Rita Krishna, Cabinet member for schools, said: "It's about the children and making things better for children. The building is a symbol of all the things that have been going on behind the scenes.