Public consultation on plans for closed school site’s future

Abbeydale Grange, in Hastings Road, Millhouses, Sheffield, closed its doors for the last time in the summer after Sheffield Council decided that the under-subscribed school would close in 2010.

Most of the pupils left last summer but the Year 11 students stayed on for one final year to complete their GCSE courses.

A series of meetings to discuss the way forward are planned with residents in the coming weeks.

Coun Bryan Lodge, deputy leader of Sheffield Council said: “We have always maintained that residents should be able to have a say on what happens next.

“This is why we have set up a series of meetings with local residents to find out the views of local people and what they want to see happen to the site.

“The school building itself will have to be demolished, but what happens next to the site is up for discussion.

“No decision on its future will be made until this consultation process has happened. We will be consulting with the local community and will be drawing up proposals for the future use of the whole site. The demolition is the first stage of preparing the site for the future.”

Coun Lodge added no date has been confirmed as to when the building will be fully demolished, but this is likely to be in the new year.

The council said parts of the internal structure will start to be demolished from this week.