A BID has been lodged to formally preserve, 'for public recreational use only', a site earmarked for a new academy school.

Belle Vue playing fields and surrounding area of Consett, County Durham, has been selected as the preferred site for a proposed academy for the town, to replace the existing Moorside and Consett Sports College secondary schools.

Durham County Council last month named Belle Vue as the approved location for the new-build £25m ‘super school’.

The academy, to be co-sponsored by a Durham University-led consortium and the county council, is one of three proposed across north Durham.

It is part of a £75m re-organisation of secondary education, also affecting schools in Stanley and eastern suburbs of Durham City, all of which could come into being by September 2012.

Derwent Valley Area Action Partnership, a district-wide community forum, has already registered its opposition to the choice of the Belle Vue site for the Consett academy.

It voted 13 for, with six abstentions and no votes against, to resist the choice of Belle Vue as the academy location.

Another local community body, Consett Green Spaces Group, which also opposes the site, has now applied for the playing fields and surrounding area to be formally registered with ‘village green’ status.

Testimonials backing the application have been submitted by more than seventy residents, each outlining how they have used the area over decades, and how much they value their free access to the site.

Group chairman John Campbell described the weight of feeling as, "a revelation!"

"So many people have enjoyed and valued this space over the years that we’re determined to protect it for future generations."

He said the group hopes the support expressed for its position by the area action partnership, which was set up by the county council, will only add weight to its cause.

Mr Campbell said group members are now waiting to discover if their application will be subject of a public inquiry, conducted by an independent QC, similar to one staged recently over an identical application in Witton Park, near Bishop Auckland.