PLANS for Darlington’s first free school, to be based in an historic building on the edge of town, have been submitted to a council.

Marchbank Free School will provide specialist care for primary age children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties (BESD) at the grade II-listed Mowden Hall, in Barnes Road, Darlington.

An application for a change of use for the red brick building, which currently serves as office accommodation for the Department for Education, and listed building consent has been sent to planners at Darlington Borough Council.

The new school will not include a four-storey 1970s office block on the Mowden Hall site, also owned by the Department for Education, where 480 staff face uncertainty over the future of their jobs.

The Marchbank Free School will become part of the Education Village Academy Trust, which already runs Haughton, Springfield and Beaumont Hill Academies, at a different site in Salters Lane, Darlington.

The trust hopes to open the school in time for the new academic year in September, providing tuition for an initial 18 children in September, eventually providing 30 places by September 2016.

A report for planners states that Marchbank will cater for children “who are unable to manage their emotions and behaviours in a way that allows them to access education in a mainstream setting”.

As Mowden Hall is a listed building, the trust has worked with conservation officers to ensure that any changes would be acceptable in the “conservation of the historic fabric”, with some alterations planned to make it a more effective space as a school.

A number of fences will be erected around the boundary of the school grounds, which include wooded areas and a large lawn, to protect the children and prevent them leaving school grounds.

The report concludes: “The new use of the building would firmly establish the maintenance of the hall and the use of the building for the future, as well as giving it a new lease of life.

“It is appreciated that interventions and modifications to the building should be carefully considered in their design and implementation, however it should be understood that certain insertions, such as fences, are essential in creating a secure environment for the children.”

Planning officials will decide if the application should go before the council’s planning committee at a later date.