Peterlee

Coordinates: 54°46′N 1°20′W / 54.76°N 1.33°W / 54.76; -1.33

Peterlee
Peterlee  Peterlee shown within County Durham
Population	30,093 (2001) [1]
OS grid reference	NZ430409
Unitary authority	County Durham
Ceremonial county	County Durham
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PETERLEE
Postcode district	SR8
Dialling code	0191
Police	Durham
Fire	County Durham and Darlington
Ambulance	North East
EU Parliament	North East England
UK Parliament	Easington
List of places: UK • England • County Durham

Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners.

Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.

Peterlee

The case for Peterlee was put forth vigorously in Farewell Squalor by Easington Rural District Council Surveyor C.W. Clarke, who also proposed that the town was named after the celebrated Durham miners' leader Peter Lee.^[1] Peterlee is unique among the new towns which came into being after the Second World War in that it was the only one requested by the people through their MP – though whether a majority of the people living in the surrounding colliery villages actually wanted it to be built is disputable. It can be argued that the building of Peterlee was at the expense of such nearby colliery villages as Thornley and Wheatley Hill where development was deliberately suppressed by the local council in favour of the new town. The colliery village of Horden has, however, suffered perhaps more; its proximity to Peterlee has seen it lose all of its major services, including police and fire stations to the new town.

A deputation, mostly if not all working miners, met with the Minister of Town and Country Planning after the Second World War to put the case for a new town in the district. The minister John Silkin responded by offering a half size new town of 30,000 residents. Subsequently, they came largely from the surrounding villages in the District of Easington.

The Peterlee Development Corporation was established in 1948 under the direction of A V Williams. The original ambitious master-plan for towering blocks of flats by Berthold Lubetkin was rejected as unsuitable for the geology of the area which had been weakened by mining works and he resigned in 1950. George Grenfell Baines replaced Lubetkin and began to build quickly resulting in buildings of poor quality construction. In a bold move Williams invited an artist Victor Pasmore to be head of the design team for the landscaping. The Apollo Pavilion was completed in 1970 at centre of the Sunny Blunts estate and was named after the Apollo Space Programme. As well as a visual focus the structure acted as a bridge across a small lake. Nikolaus Pevsner provides a glowing commentary on the interaction of the housing units and the Pavilion with the landscape; however, the structure became a meeting point for unruly locals and was soon defaced with graffiti and a congregation area for drug users and drinkers. In 1982 Pasmore agreed to the connecting stairs being removed.

In 1975, Artist Placement Group had contacted new towns to set up the terms for artists to propose projects. The Development Corporation of Peterlee New Town responded and in 1976, Stuart Brisley was appointed. The project contained three distinct parts:

• to develop an ongoing process of collecting and disseminating information under the title History Within Living Memory
• to establish a publicly available history of the Development Corporation made in association with the Sociology Dept of the University of Durham
• to introduce a community workshop which began in 1977

Some local residents and councillors had petitioned to have the Apollo Pavilion demolished, citing it as an eyesore. Some locals also refer to the Pavilion as 'the Monstrosity' and an application to have the structure listed was rejected. Late in 2008 up to July 2009, the Apollo Pavilion has been revamped, with the original features such as the murals and stairs reinstated, more than can be found on this page from the Sunderland Echo and from the Apollo Pavilion Website.

Governance

• Peterlee Town Council
• Durham County Council

Economy

Peterlee has seen a number of changes in the last several years, this includes a Bus Station and also a partial covering up of the shopping centre, which was given the name Castle Dene Shopping Centre. A larger ASDA supermarket was built and opened in November 2001. The old ASDA supermarket has been utilised by various retailers in 2002 including a Buckingham Bingo hall, a Global Video rental store, a JD Wetherspoon public house, a Wilkinson store and a Poundworld store.

Recent redevelopments include a number of new clothes shops including New Look, Select and The Officers' Club. A brand new Sports Direct, Walter Wall and Storeys Carpets has also opened in the building that once housed Safeway. The town also has an Argos, Boots and various shoe shops, plus a couple of places serving home-made food. After the removal of the old ramp and steps, a new lift and staircase were installed in the market square of the town restoring access to ASDA and various shops and services on the top level. A new Gamestation opened in February 2007. The lower deck carpark near ASDA is used on some Bank Holidays for a Market, which in the main sells clothes, tools and music. In 2009, the town centre has recently finished further development with a B&M Bargains store built on the plot that once housed Michael O'Connor; Grainger Games has also opened a store in the town centre. ASDA has recently expanded the store, with the opening of a second floor that houses clothing and the cafe.

Redevelopment plans within the Eden Hill area of the town are underway, with the building of new housing to replace the empty houses that frequent this part of town; Saxon Park is the name of the new housing estate. The opening of the new East Durham Trust building opposite the Royal Arms Pub on Yoden Road has been part of this areas redevelopment.

Under a new proposal for further redevelopment of Peterlee; Tesco are wanting to build a new Eco-store on the old college site; this new store would create 400 new jobs; this redevelopment would include a brand new library. Further reading on this can be found in the following articles: Eco jobs in Peterlee and Tesco announces new store development and 400 new jobs.

Culture

Peterlee holds a two day event called the Peterlee Show, which is held at the end of the summer holidays (usually the first weekend of September) on Helford Road Cricket Ground, which is not far from the Pasmore Pavilion.

Peterlee has plenty of open spaces, fields and trees, with various parks and leisure facilities.

Peterlee is situated next to Castle Eden Dene, a national nature reserve.^[2]

In the past few years, Freaky Weasel Promotions have been holding monthly music events to the local people of 14 years plus. This was to replace the popular Sounds Alive nights at East Durham College. The events attract 600+ youngsters every month, which seems to be the only event that is tailor-made for such a crowd in the area. This event is now held at Peterlee Lesiure center.

A new community website has recently opened for the people of Peterlee and East Durham. The site, called Your Peterlee, aims to provide the community with useful contacts, such as community groups and local organisations, as well as a Whats On in the area. The site was set up by Shotton Hall School and iTech.

Transport

Road

Peterlee is served by two main roads, The A19 runs to the west of the town leading to Sunderland in the north and Teesside in the south, the A1086 runs to the east of the town leading to Easington in the north and Hartlepool to the south. The B1320 runs through the town centre linking the town to Horden and the A1086 in the east and Shotton Colliery and the A19 in the west. The B1432 runs north from the town centre to Easington Village, Hawthorn and Seaham on the route of the old A19.

Bus

Peterlee is served by Arriva North East and Go North East who provide services around the town the surrounding villages and to Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Hartlepool, Stockton, Billingham, Thornaby and Middlesbrough. Other bus operators include Scarlett Band who run services to Spennymoor and Bishop Auckland.

Train

Peterlee was served by Horden Railway Station on the Durham Coast Line until it closed in 1964.

Education

Primary

• Acre Rigg Infant School
• Acre Rigg Junior School
• Dene House Primary School (Now Dene School of Technology)
• Eden Community Primary School now called Sea Scape Primary
• Howletch Lane Primary School
• Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Primary School
• Shotton Hall Infant School
• Shotton Hall Junior School
• North Blunts Primary School (Closed in 2003)

Secondary

• Dene Community School of Technology - Specialist Sports College (Formally Dene House Comprehensive)
• Shotton Hall School - Performing Arts College
• St. Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School - Specialist Humanities http://www.st-bedes.durham.sch.uk/

6th Form Facilities

• Byron Sixth Form College (On the site of St. Bede's Catholic Comprehensive School)

College

• East Durham College - The building at the town centre is now closed as the college is now on one site at Howletch. Peterlee Library will remain at its current site.

Adult education

• Learn East is a Skills for Life provider situated on the 6th floor of Lee House in Peterlee Town Centre. Learn East offers a variety of educational services and courses within Peterlee and East Durham for people who want to learn new skills such as ICT, Digital Photography or build up their Literacy and Numeracy Skills; Family Learning is done through this organisation.

Town twinning

• Nordenham, Germany (since 1981)

References

External links

• YourPeterlee - Community website for Peterlee and East Durham
• PETERLEE ONLINE
• myPeterlee.com
• Apollo Pavilion Website
• BBC Tees - Pasmore Pavilion photos
• Britain In Their Sites: Episode 1 (BBC Radio 4) Episode on Peterlee