Revised redevelopment plans for college get the go-ahead

Members of Calderdale Council's Planning Committee approved the scheme when they met earlier this week.

Calderdale College principal, Chris Jones, said: "This is another step towards realising our ambition of first-class facilities for Calderdale students. We are now working towards completing the process of appointing a contractor so that we can start on site as soon as possible."

The new scheme replaces a building programme cancelled last year due to the failure of the Learning & Skills Council's funding programme, which affected colleges throughout the UK.

Calderdale College has independently secured finance of 6.6m for phase one of the revised scheme which includes a sports hall, fitness suite, dance studio and all-weather pitch to support the college's growing football, rugby and dance academies. These facilities would also be available for community use.

In addition, a new entrance and atrium for buildings on the west side of Francis Street in Halifax, on the present Princess Mary site, would be linked to the main Percival Whitley entrance on the east side by an external landscaped connection, bringing the two campuses closer together.

There would also be a new entrance to the main site, partial refurbishment of the ground floor and redecoration throughout.

Phase two, for which the college is still seeking finance, would be a new three-storey teaching block and IT learning resource centre alongside the new sports hall.

Longer term plans could include a new construction Centre. Phase one is expected to take a year to complete.