Unwanted buildings on former Alnwick school site set to be demolished

An application giving notice of the plans for the former Lindisfarne Middle School has been submitted by Northumberland County Council.

Council officer Karen Enright, in the application, writes: ‘Following the recent completion of the refurbishment of Lindisfarne Annex, the remainder of the buildings on the former Lindisfarne Middle School site in Alnwick have been identified to be demolished.

"This includes the 1960s build and gym block. The buildings to be demolished are of a brick construction.

‘The old school buildings to be demolished are in a poor state of repair, very inefficient to run, surplus to requirements and at risk of vandalism.’

The application goes on to state that the site to be levelled and graded to provide a temporary car park with loose gravel surface.

‘The council is considering a number of options for redevelopment of this brownfield site and will bring forward proposals in due course,’ the application adds.

Demolition work is earmarked to take place between September 1 and November 30.

The plans do not impact on the £1.2m Lindisfarne Community Campus.

The school closed in 2017 as part of a reorganisation of the Alnwick Partnership and a move to a two-tier education system.

Before then the middle school and sports hall had been approved for demolition and were due to be sold for housing. However, the current administration decided to retain the site.

Consultation continued over the next two years with the local community through the Alnwick Forum.

Feedback for potential uses overwhelmingly favoured creating a community campus anchored by the council’s Learning and Skills Service.