A FORMER pit village is likely to get a £1.2m community centre that will have a near zero carbon footprint.

The money for the 500sq metre building, in Sherburn Hill, is coming from the proceeds of the Durham Villages Regeneration Company (DVRC), which is jointly owned by developer Keepmoat and Durham City Council.

The venture has seen more than £6m invested in similar projects and is paying £12.3m for Durham's Freeman's Quay swimming pool and leisure centre.

The community centre will have a main hall with acoustic partitions, a kitchen and bar, snooker room, meeting room and separate dining room plus a central foyer.

Outside will be a multi-use games area, a refurbished playground and a grassed area for activities such as concerts.

DVRC says it will have high insulation standards, including a living sedum roof to help provide correct thermal mass and prevent overheating in summer.

The timber-framed building will have a wind turbine, away from existing properties, and ground source heat pumps to draw water from underground coils for underfloor heating.

It will also feature grey water harvesting stored for recycling through toilets and garden taps, natural ventilation, low energy lights, possibly photovoltaic panels, to convert solar energy into usable power, and a building management system to alert users when windows are open while the heating is on.

Council cabinet member and ward councillor, Carol Woods, said: "Sherburn Hill has needed a new community centre for a long time and I am pleased to see that we have managed to find funding.

"We have worked with the community association to make sure the new building will provide what residents want in an ecofriendly building which will be economical to run as well as helping protect the environment."

David Carmichael, of Keepmoat, said: "It is great to see more community facilities being developed as part of DVRC's work - particularly when they are as cutting edge as this green centre and the new swimming pool and leisure centre at Freeman's Place."

If the council's development control committee gives planning permission, work could start in the next few months, finishing next March.