Call for social housing on site of former Hexham Middle School

Hexham Middle School moved to the existing Queen Elizabeth High School site in September 2021 and no decision on the future use of the Wanless Lane site has yet been made by Northumberland County Council.

It has been estimated that the site could provide up to 144 houses.

The idea for it to be used for affordable housing was discussed at a public debate on the town’s housing crisis, jointly organised by campaign group Tynedale Transformed and The Hexham Debates. A petition was launched after the meeting.

"These homes would need to be genuinely affordable," said Wendy Breach, of the Hexham Community-Led housing group.

"The Government’s definition of an affordable home is 80 per cent of market value. In a place like Hexham that still isn’t affordable to many.

"What we can’t have is more executive homes. Much, if not all, the housing stock in Hexham is based upon builders and developers making large profits."

"Our housing problems cannot be solved by the free market. Housing is a human right and should not be an investment opportunity," she added.

David Clegg, also from Hexham Community-Led Housing, said that in the past five years, 400 people had left Hexham because they couldn’t afford to live in the town.

"There is a massive housing crisis here," he said. "Only 10 per cent of the homes we need have been built." He added that the middle school site was a "huge opportunity which mustn’t be wasted".

Improvements have recently been made to the community garden on the site, which is managed by Transition Tynedale and supported by Grow Hexham, in the hopes of cementing it as a 'valuable resource' for locals.

Volunteers made new picnic benches, along with a bug hotel and planted new currant bushes.

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Improvements have recently been made to the community garden on the site (Image: Grow Hexham)

Amy Hemmings, of Grow Hexham, said: "We're really keen to know what the plans are for the middle school, and we're really hoping that by the work we're doing in the community garden that we'll encourage the council to allow the community garden to remain in place, even when they do develop the rest of the site."

"If they're building housing there, which is needed in Hexham, then having a nice green space on your doorstep, that's going to increase the value of that housing. I think the two things can be mutually beneficial," she added.

Town and county councillor Suzanne Fairless-Aitken is among those who have advocated for the county council to make use of the site in a way which benefits the community.

"It's such a huge site, it has so much potential," she said.

"I'm thrilled about the petition and it needed to happen.

A spokeswoman for Northumberland County Council: "There is a desire from the council to keep the community garden and we will shortly be carrying out a master-planning exercise to determine what other uses could be suitable for the site."