A NEW £17m school building in Sunderland will have facilities for the whole community.

Sandhill View Secondary School will be replaced by a modern building that will cater for sport, recreation and lifelong learning.

It will be built under the private finance initiative.

It will include a library used by the school and the community, a youth wing and community rooms, the latest computer technology, a swimming pool, sports hall, running track, sports pitches and tennis courts. Sunderland City Council chief executive Colin Sinclair said: "A school is generally the biggest investment that the city council makes in any of its communities.

"Making those facilities dual use, in addition to catering for lifelong learning facilities and community development, has to be the way forward.

"This could become a blueprint for future development because it represents excellent value for money, as well as making a tremendous impact on standards of attainment across the whole community.''

Council leader Colin Anderson said: "This announcement is a tremendous boost to Sunderland's claim to the title of a Learning City.

"We believe this will be cutting edge in terms of its vision, scale and breadth of facilities."

The scheme has won Government approval. The private sector partner, who will lease the building to the council for 25 years, has yet to be named.