Provision of Development Site Former Duchess School Alnwick

Northumberland is the most northerly shire county in England and covers a large area of 400,000 hectares from the Tyne and Wear conurbation to the Scottish Border and has a population of 320,000 people living in approximately 130,000 households. It is one of the least densely populated counties in England. Over half of the population lives in less than 5% of the land area in the southeast of the County adjacent to the Tyneside conurbation where the main centres of commerce and industry are located. This part of Northumberland contrasts sharply with the sparsely populated rural areas in the north and west of the County where agriculture dominates. The distinctive character with several contrasts makes it difficult to summarise; a mix of prosperous commuting towns extending along the Tyne Valley, market towns, relatively deprived ex-coalfield areas and an extensive area of scattered smaller settlements to the north and further west. The county’s population is forecast to increase to circa 339,400 by 2043 with an ageing population. The 2021 census shows that in the previous decade there has been an increase of 28.9% in people aged 65 years and over, this trend is set to continue. Nearly a third of our population will be over 65 years by 2031, with the greatest increase in those over 80 years old. The number of people aged 75 and older living alone is projected to increase by more than 65% by 2030 and those aged 85+ are projected to increase by 109%. Females have an average life expectancy of 83 years and males 79 years. Over 41,000 older people in Northumberland live on their own. Over 98% of the county’s population is White British. Alnwick is the main principal town of the former Alnwick District and is a main market town within Northumberland, readily accessible to the A1 on the strategic road network. It had a population of 10,332 at the time of the 2021 census. Site Details The land is owned by the Council and is the site of the former Duchess Community High School in Alnwick. It is set to the north-western edge of Alnwick, comprising of now vacant land benefitting from an access to the south-east from Howling Lane. The site is split into two, spatially separated by a pedestrian route that spans between them adjacent to allotment gardens. The site is central to the town and has access to the high street within a 10-minute walk. The following documents are available to give specific information about the site: • A location plan of the site is provided in Appendix A of the documentation with the site boundary shown in red. • Development Brief • Restrictive Covenants • Drone photographs of the site • OS Map • Local Plan settlement boundary At this point we are making developers and Registered Providers aware of the vision and the opportunity and seeking expressions of interest which will form the basis of how the council approaches the next stage.