Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, the town is named after Peter Lee, a prominent local miner. Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners. Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool. General information Development of Peterlee 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 pr