Peterlee is unique among the new towns which came into being after the Second World War in that it was the only one requested by the people through their political representatives - though whether a majority of the people living in the surrounding colliery villages actually wanted the place to be built remains a moot point. It can certainly be argued that the building of Peterlee was at the expense of such nearby colliery villages as Thornley and Wheatley Hill where development was deliberately suppressed by the local council in favour of the new town. The colliery village of Horden has, however, suffered perhaps more; its proximity to Peterlee has seen it lose all of its major services, including police and fire stations to the new town. A deputation, mostly if not all working miners, met with the Minister of Town and Country Planning after the Second World War to put the case for a new town in the district. The minister John Silkin responded by offering a half size new town of 30,000 residents. Subsequently, they came largely from the surrounding villages in the District of Easington. The Peterlee Development Corporation was established in 1948 under the direction of A V Williams. The original ambitious master-plan for towering blocks of flats by Berthold Lubetkin was rejected as unsuitable for the geology of the area which had been weakened by mining works and he resigned in 1950. George Grenfell Baines replaced Lubetkin and began to build quickly resulting in buildings of poor quality construction. In a bold move Williams invited an artist Victor Pasmore to be head of the design team for the landscaping. The Apollo Pavilion was completed in 1970 at centre of the Sunny Blunts estate and was named after the Apollo Space Programme. As well as a visual focus the structure acted as a bridge across a small lake. Nikolaus Pevsner provides a glowing commentary on the interaction of the housing units and the Pavilion with the landscape; however, the structure became a meeting point for unruly locals and was soon defaced with graffiti and a congregation area for drug users and drinkers. In 1982 Pasmore agreed to the connecting stairs being removed. In 1975, Artist Placement Group had contacted new towns to set up the terms for artists to propose projects. The Development Corporation of Peterlee New Town responded and in 1976, Stuart Brisley was appointed. The project contained three distinct parts:

* to develop an ongoing process of collecting and disseminating information under the title History Within Living Memory
* to establish a publicly available history of the Development Corporation made in association with the Sociology Dept of the University of Durham
* to introduce a community workshop which began in 1977

Some local residents and councillors have petitioned to have the Pasmore Pavilion demolished, citing it as an eyesore. Some locals also refer to the Pavilion as 'the Monstrosity' and an application to have the structure listed was rejected. There have been various proposals to rehabilitate the structure including converting it into an exhibition space. In 2001 it was proposed that the lake be enlarged so that a refurbished Pavilion could not be reached by vandals. Indeed, during the summer months the lake attracts dragonflies to the area and it does hold potential to be improved to encourage more wildlife to area, especially if the nearby woodland is also cleaned up. More on Peterlee