Watch: Work progressing to demolish school five years on from controversial closure
Work is well underway to demolish the former Coseley School to make way for a new primary school, more than five years since it shut its doors for the final time.
The secondary school controversially closed in July 2017 in a decision by Dudley Council due to dwindling numbers and poor performance.
Having stood vacant for several years, workers have finally broken ground at the site off Henne Drive with plans to transform it into a new Technology Primary School led by Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust.
The trust runs a number of schools in the Black Country including Thorns Collegiate Academy in Brierley Hill, West Bromwich Collegiate Academy and Holyhead Primary Academy in Wednesbury.
Back in 2017, the former school site was earmarked to be transformed into Coseley Technology Primary in a £6 million project.
Drone pictures taken at the site at the end of July show how work has progressed to demolish the building which dates back to the 1960s, with several diggers seen in action among huge piles of rubble.
Councillor David Stanley, Dudley Council's cabinet member for children’s services and education, said: "The site is being prepared for a new Technology Primary School led by Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust.
"It has been planned for the last few years and work has now commenced onsite, with some demolition of existing building, ground work preparation and then new build and refurbishment."
When plans were first put forward to shut the former Coseley School in 2016, it was met with uproar from parents, with around 1,500 people signing a petition against its closure.
A group of parents and youngsters armed with banners also staged a protest on the steps of Dudley Council House.
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