A PLAN to sell land to raise £4.8m to spend on schools across a Tees borough is to be considered this week.

Ideas to be considered by Stockton Borough Council include selling Crooksbarn Primary School in Norton to developers and building a new school at a site nearby, generating annual savings of £250,000.

Other plans include selling parts of the former Norton School site to housing developers to create football pitches and changing facilities on Yarm Road and Darlington Back Lane .

A new cemetery would be created on the site of the former Blakeston School. The cost of creating a new cemetery has already been budgeted for and the sale of part of the site for new homes would go to the council’s education budget.

Land at the former Billingham Campus site on Marsh House Avenue would partly be sold for houses, but a small, vocational education centre would be created.

The authority also hopes five community buildings could be transferred to a newly created trust who would pay for their upkeep. There has already been interest in the Ragworth Neighbourhood Centre.

However, there has not been interest the Robert Atkinson Youth Centre, Elmwood Youth and Community Centre, Grangefield Youth and Community Centre and Stillington Youth Centre.

A council spokesman said creating a trust to take on the buildings would save £360,000-a-year and ensure the survival of the buildings for the community.

Stockton Borough Council has already raised £1m and made an annual saving of £800,000 by selling Gloucester House in the town centre, previously used as offices.

Bob Cook, Labour leader of the council, said: “Together, these proposals help us to tackle the funding challenges we face and allow us to invest in a wide range of facilities which are important to people.

“These plans not only reduce our running costs, but also allow us to invest in our schools, to develop new and improved open spaces, deliver a major part of our playing pitch strategy, create more affordable housing and provide much needed crematorium and cemetery capacity.

“These plans show that we remain absolutely committed to continuing to develop the borough despite facing difficult financial challenges.”

Stockton council's cabinet committee will consider the ideas on Thursday, May 16.