Plans for homes on Hexham Middle School site are to take step closer

Northumberland County Council is close to announcing a construction partner to deliver the scheme on the 6.1 hectare former Hexham Middle School site.

Outline permission for up to 200 houses was granted last March, with a significant number of affordable properties planned to address shortages in the town. The proposals would see the demolition of most of the former school on Wanless Lane, although the Grade II listed Fellside building, former caretaker’s cottage and the Gatehouse will be retained.

The school has been redundant since the middle school relocated in 2021.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Tynedale Community Partnership, Hexham town councillor Penny Grennan requested an update on the situation at the middle school, fearing news had “gone quiet” since the plans were approved.

The county council’s cabinet member for finance and Corbridge councillor Nick Oliver said: “I had a discussion about it this morning. I can’t give much detail as I haven’t been directly involved, but the council has had some fairly detailed interaction with Hexham Town Council and local community groups.

“Rather than just selling the site, pocketing the money and using it to reduce borrowing, it has been decided with the community to develop a proposal to meet local need, with particular regard towards affordable housing. My understanding is we will see some action on that very soon.

“There has been expressions of interest from potential partners. I am not sure what the process has been, but I think it is coming to an end and we should see some concrete actions fairly soon – hopefully things will get moving.”

Hexham West county councillor and the town’s mayor Coun Derek Kennedy said: “This is a very important thing for not only Hehxam, but the entire Tynedale area.”

The plans include proposals for an extra-care facility for older people, while most of the site is within a high housing value area, meaning 25% of the properties would need to be classed as affordable homes. A small section to the east is lower value and would only require 10%.

The outline application was submitted by Northumberland County Council itself, in the hope a better price for the council-owned plot can be achieved. The proposals were for outline permission only, meaning a further, more detailed application will need to be submitted by a prospective developer before any work can begin.

Councillors in the town say Hexham needs around 500 social homes or the town will “age and die”.