WORK on the country's first education village is to get under way early next year if plans are approved next week.

A detailed planning application for the £35m super-school, which is to be built on the site of Haughton Community College in Darlington, will be discussed by Darlington Borough Council planning officials next week.

Under the project, the existing school will be demolished and Haughton Community College, Springfield Primary School and Beaumont Hill Special School will be amalgamated, providing education for 1,900 pupils aged from three to 16.

Darlington council planning officers are recommending approval of the application by Kajima Construction Newcastle, providing that Sport England does not object to the provision of sports and playing pitches on the site.

The plans include a two-storey village street building, forming the hub of the school.

This will accommodate a learning resource centre, Internet caf, library, dining areas, and halls, music areas and changing facilities.

The upper floor will accommodate an administration area and science and arts departments.

There will be four linked satellite buildings, providing classrooms.

On the north side of the main building there will be an enclosed area, to be known as a village green, which will be used for outdoor teaching, dining and performances.

To the south will be four attached buildings, two providing classrooms, with a swimming pool and sports hall at the eastern end, as well as a detached unit for special needs education.

Sports pitches will include a floodlit games area.

The present vehicle access via Rockwell Avenue will be closed and an exclusive pedestrian/cycle access created. A new entrance for vehicles, from Salters Lane North, will be created, with a circular access and drop-off point.

It is hoped that the new school will be ready by September 2005, with the existing school demolished once pupils and staff have moved into the new premises.

Darlington's director of education, Geoff Pennington, said: "The education village will provide pupils and staff with a school for the 21st century.

"One of the main features of the development will be the inclusion of children with special needs and, hopefully, the village will be an example of how integration can work."

Funding for the scheme from the Private Finance Initiative, will also allow Harrowgate Hill Infant School to move to the site of the junior school. The new school will provide education for 500 youngsters aged three to 11.

Plans from Kajima Construction for the demolition of the existing junior school and the creation of a primary school on the site will also be discussed by councillors on Wednesday.

Seventy five letters of objection have been received by the council, outlining a variety of concerns, including children's safety, traffic issues and parking problems.