PART of a former city park and ride site is to be sold off by the council after it was deemed surplus to requirements.

Worcester City Council has decided to put the remainder of the former Perdiswell Park and Ride site up for sale after selling more than half of the land to the government for a new primary school.

Roughly two acres of currently unused land on the site would be up for sale or long-term lease from the council.

The land had not been included for development in the South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) but a number of uses have been outlined by the council including possible housing, leisure, offices and retail facilities.

Private talks of a major multi-million pound overhaul of the site and part of Perdiswell Park - including a housing development of between 250 and 300 houses - and a boating lake - were held in 2017.

A report, to be discussed by the council’s policy and resources committee, said there were no known obvious constraints to building on the site.

The council asked consultants Fisher German to carry out ‘soft’ marketing of the site in December last year to look for informal interest.

Whilst the council is not prepared to reveal the results of the report, which was compiled throughout January and February, it said a clear interest had been shown in the site for a variety of purposes.

Part of the site has been used by Warndon Villages Football Club but its licence runs out in August.

If councillors decided against putting the site up for sale, the land would be put forward as part of the council’s review of the SWDP.

Based on feedback, the council expects to receive a “significant” amount of money through its sale but no concrete amount has been assumed in any of the council’s planning.

Whilst the site is vacant, the council is responsible for security and ongoing business rates.

The rateable value of land has not been reassessed following the sale of part of the site for the new primary school but is estimated to be around £12,000 a year.

The council sold three of the five acres of the site in John Comyn Drive, off Droitwich Road, to the Communities Secretary last year to be used for North Worcester Primary Academy School.

The 420-pupil school, which will be run by the Rivers Church of England Academy Trust, is due to open in time for the new school year in September.

It is hoped the new school will ease the demand for places in the north of the city after pupils in Claines and Northwick struggled to find places at schools near their homes and the Cherry Tree Park and Cherry Orchard developments in Bevere were built.

The council’s policy and resources committee meets next Tuesday (March 19) to decide.