Friday, July 06, 2012

Dunston Hill School proposed for demolition

Gateshead Council are proposing to demolish the former Dunston Hill Primary School. The building has been empty since the school transferred to the new site but since then, its condition has deteriorated.
The former school was proposed as the location for the controversial Emmaus project to house homeless people but the charity withdrew their plans after residents strongly opposed them.

A further reason for the cancellation of the Emmaus project was the poor state of the building. Council officers believe that the cost of restoring and converting the building to another use would be too expensive.

The Council are already paying management and other costs even though the building is unoccupied. Officers believe that demolishing it will make it easier to sell the site to a developer for housing, commercial or mixed use.

Councillor Peter Maughan said, “As a former pupil of the school, I have an emotional attachment to it. However, I would like to know residents’ views on the demolition proposal. Please contact me if you have concerns.”

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