Plans to demolish two schools to build a new campus for hundreds more pupils have been revealed.
Durham County Council is working in partnership with the Department for Education to demolish the existing Belmont Church of England Junior School and neighbouring Belmont Community School to create new primary and secondary school buildings.
The new scheme comes as the existing school buildings are no longer fit for purpose in terms of building condition and running cost. Current buildings on the site date from the 1960s/1970s and have only received minor modern improvements, including the drama hall built in 2007.
The existing primary school is currently split into two separate teaching blocks for different age groups. Each block is single-storey with teaching and large spaces in both.
The secondary school comprises of the main teaching block, which is a mixture of single and two-storey elements, a separate sports centre block and additional single-storey drama/ teaching block.
Both schools currently share the same site but have been described as having “distinctly different aesthetics”.
A planning application for the new school campus is due to be approved by councillors on Durham County Council’s planning committee next Tuesday. A new two-storey primary school, three-storey secondary school, sports centre and new field facilities are proposed.
Due to increasing demands for pupil places in the area, proposed capacity numbers will be higher than existing to future-proof the new buildings. There are currently 269 pupils at the primary school, which could be increased to 341. A further 1,050 pupils are proposed for the new secondary school.
The proposed layout has been designed to avoid the need for advanced demolition of the existing school buildings, reducing disruption to staff and pupils. The development is phased to allow for teaching in the existing buildings to continue while the replacement buildings are constructed on site.
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Following the construction of the new buildings, pupils would then move into their new campus. The demolition is then planned to start followed by the completion of the sports fields and parking.
Demolition work is proposed to start after September 2024.
However, the demolition application has been delayed due to the need to carry out bat surveys and will be decided at a later date.
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