A former Gateshead school is set to be demolished to make way for a new housing development.
Hookergate Secondary School, in High Spen, shut its doors in 2011 when it was merged with Ryton Comprehensive to create what is now the Thorp Academy. Its buildings are now due to be torn down and replaced by 49 new homes, under plans approved by councillors on Wednesday.
However, developer Vistry Partnerships’ proposals must clear a final hurdle with the Government after Sport England objected to the project over concerns about the loss of the school’s old playing fields. The body complained that the demolition of the empty school would remove car parking, toilets, and changing rooms and therefore make it harder for the pitches to be brought back into use.
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Sport England told Gateshead Council that the Spen Lane site “would be attractive” to local clubs that are “desperate for more pitches”. However, the council concluded that the new housing estate is “ not prejudicial to the future use of the adjacent playing fields, or its ability to operate as a stand alone community use facility”.
At a meeting of the authority’s planning committee, Saltwell councillor Robert Waugh said that it was “unreasonable” for Sport England to oppose the scheme. He added: “With the fact that the school has been closed for over a decade, to say that changing facilities that have not been used in such a long time may be in a state of repair fit for use is nonsensical as well.”
Councillors were shown a diagram on Wednesday of how three sports pitches could still be brought back into use next to the housing development – though there are no actual plans to do so at this stage. Despite the committee approving the plans on Wednesday, Sport England’s objection means that they must now be referred to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove.
The disused school site and adjacent playing fields are both within the Green Belt, but the council said that building 49 homes was an “appropriate” use of the land and “would not give rise to harm”. 28 public objections were made against the project, including claims that it will be “overbearing” and that High Spen lacks the local facilities needed to accommodate more housing.
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