A North East college campus could be demolished after plans were submitted following its closure.

The former Sunnydale School site in Shildon, as part of Greenfield Community College, closed for good back in August 31.

Leaders agreed that a new “21st Century education experience” in Newton Aycliffe would be built.

Some £22m of council money will go into the project, Durham County Council’s cabinet heard.

The Northern Echo: Picture: CHRIS BOOTHPicture: CHRIS BOOTH (Image: Picture: CHRIS BOOTH)

Now plans have been submitted to Durham County Council that would see the building demolished.

Works would consist of clearing the interior of the building, remove asbestos, a combination of hand remote demolition of the building.

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The area will then be levelled and covered with topsoil seeded with grass.

Although councillors have expressed their disappointment over the closure, they have backed the demolition of the building.

Councillor Shirley Quinn said: “This remains a sensitive issue locally and while I would have wanted the school to remain open and used, I appreciated the final decision of split site closure and then the final direction to close.

The Northern Echo: The buildings set to be demolished outlined in red Picture: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCILThe buildings set to be demolished outlined in red Picture: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL (Image: Picture: DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL PLANNING)

“I support the demolition follow decisions made in respect of this building due to its unsightly condition and the problems which resulted in the forced school closure on Health and Safety grounds.”

Councillor Matt Johnson said: “While we were all dismayed to see the end of secondary education in our town, it is plain to see that the building needs to come down ASAP so I also support demolition in accordance with the Council's safety procedures."

The Northern Echo: Picture: CHRIS BOOTHPicture: CHRIS BOOTH (Image: Chris Booth)

The new Newton Aycliffe site aims to accommodate 800 pupils in a building that was “suitable for 21st Century education.”

The Greenfield Community College's pupils, previously split between the two sites, will be based on the Aycliffe site.

All pupils have been taught there since the Sunnydale site was temporarily closed due to health and safety concerns in January 2020.

Councillor David Reynolds, deputy leader of Shildon Town Council, said: "Unfortunately the decision to demolish the Sunnydale Campus of Greenfield Community College now comes as no surprise given the decision announced earlier this year, which was to permanently close the campus.

"After that point the demolition, and probable sale of the land, felt inevitable.

"The bitterest disappointment to the Town Council was the decision made between Greenfield Community College and the County Council to cease provision of secondary education in Shildon altogether by closing the campus rather than investing in it.

"We conducted our own consultation exclusively with Shildon parents and residents prior to that decision and the County’s own statutory consultation.

"It was clear at the time that Shildon parents, of secondary school age children and those with children who will move on to secondary education in the coming years, felt that if the facilities at Shildon were improved then their overwhelming preference was that those children had the opportunity to be educated together in the town where they live and not be sent in different directions to schools where they felt less of a belonging.

"The county and school’s own consultation, which also took into account the views of Aycliffe parents and pupils, contradicted this.

"There was some anecdotal evidence that children completing the consultation survey on site at the school had been ‘primed’ in advance on the advantages to the school itself of the proposal to close Shildon.

"After the decision by the School and County, regarding the future of Greenfield’s Sunnydale Campus had been announced the Town Council, which admittedly does not have statutory responsibility for the provision of secondary education, did engage informally with alternative secondary education providers to explore whether they might be interested in offering an alternative form of secondary school in the town, but it seems that the damage done through the gradual running down of secondary education provision here had made alternative provision unviable and those organisations felt they would not be able to attract the necessary investment.

"In discussions with the County Council and it’s Department of Children and Young People’s Services in the build up to the decision about the school site, our Councillors did express that the move, should it go ahead, felt as though it was part of a ‘managed decline’ of Shildon.

"The County Council’s representatives vehemently denied this, however Shildon Town Council noted later in the year that Shildon has also been removed, in documents and communications from Durham County Council, from the list of the County’s major towns - removing a status which Shildon previously enjoyed.

"This downrating of Shildon in that respect had not been formally communicated in advance, or subsequently, to Shildon Town Council; and no explanation has been presented as to why this has happened.

"The possible implications regarding future investment in the town by the County, particularly with the upcoming steam passenger railway bicentenary in 2025, an event of special significance to Shildon, (as well as other towns along the Stockton and Darlington route most of which fall under different authorities) are worrying."

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