School plan for site of Don Valley Stadium

Plans for a state-of-the-art facility for children between the ages of two and 16 on the site of the now-demolished sports venue, credited with nurturing the talents of Olympic gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill, have been submitted to Sheffield Council.

Developers have claimed the £17m school, which will be run by Oasis Learning Trust, would create 1,200 primary, secondary and early years places. Plans also include community facilities.

The Government has offered to put up just over £13.4m towards the scheme, with the remainder of the money set to come from the council’s capital funding.

The leader of Sheffield Council, Coun Julie Dore, has given her backing to the scheme as consultation begins on the formal proposals.

A spokesman for the council said: “Since the closure of the stadium was announced, initial proposals for an Olympic Legacy Park for sports, medical centre and wellbeing in Sheffield have been considered for Don Valley Stadium.

“Given there is limited site availability within the Don Valley area for a new school and the benefits that can be realised, it was determined the optimum location for the new school would be on part of the stadium site.”

A campaign group, Save Don Valley Stadium, failed in its bid to keep the sports facility open at the end of last year.