Plans move to turn closed primary into SEN school

The school has been dubbed Gateshead's "most vulnerable"

Plans to turn a closed primary school into a school for children with special educational needs (SEN) are taking a step forward.

Colgate Primary School in Felling, Gateshead, was transferred to the Cedars Trust to provide 180 places from September.

The academy organisation has applied to the council to expand the car park and widen its access.

Planning documents show the school is expecting a high number of children to arrive in vehicles, either with their parents and carers or by home-to-school transport provided by the local authority.

The existing car access entrance from High Heworth Lane would be widened to allow for two-way traffic, the documents said, while pedestrian access would remain from Colegate West.

It comes after the Labour-led council decided to close the school in September last year.

Colegate Primary had been dubbed the council's "most vulnerable school" in official documents, with a projected financial deficit of over £500,000 by 2025-26, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

More than 2,000 people signed a petition backing calls to keep it open.