College hit by funding fiasco gets OK for £50m campus

The new six-storey building at Bradford College is set to open in 2014 while its main Westbrook Building is to be demolished.

The new facility will also replace three other college buildings which will either be sold or put to other use.

Bradford Council’s regulatory and appeals committee approved the scheme on Monday.

The college has had to scale down plans for a £120m development which was put on hold by the Learning and Skills Council after the agency realised it was facing a nationwide shortfall of £2bn over projects it had committed to.

Barnsley and Kirklees Colleges’ plans in Huddersfield were eventually both approved but college rebuilding schemes in Bradford, Beverley, Grimsby, Halifax, Scunthorpe, Rotherham and Wakefield were all put on hold.

Now Bradford College is funding its own £50m development with the support of a £35m loan from Lloyds Bank Wholesale Banking and Markets and the European Investment Bank together with £15m from its own cash reserves.

Bradford College principal and chief executive Michele Sutton said: “Our new, iconic campus will revolutionise our current estate, add to the regeneration of Bradford and provide a superb student experience.

“Students will benefit from the bringing together of facilities and curriculum into a single location, new styles of learning which embrace cutting edge technologies, realistic work environments that will be open to the public and opportunities to showcase learning activity through open plan areas.”

John Williams, relationship director at Lloyds Bank in Leeds, said: “To have the opportunity to support such an important educational and community focused project is superb and we’re confident that there will be a big benefit to the wider local economy. The new campus will attract young people to Bradford and provide an excellent base to build skills for the future.”

Councillor David Green, Bradford Council’s new leader, said: “This new campus will put Bradford College in an even stronger position to support students’ learning.”