The £22m redevelopment of Harrogate College into a state-of-the-art green technology hub is set to be given the go-ahead despite a successful legal challenge.
Planning officers at North Yorkshire Council will recommend that the scheme be approved when councillors meet next week to debate the project.
A previous application for the new hub on Hornbeam Park was approved by the council in April last year.
But the decision was challenged by local businessman Chris Bentley, owner of Hornbeam Park Developments, on the grounds that the council had not considered whether an environmental impact assessment was needed.
A judicial review upheld the appeal and quashed the original planning application.
The plans are now being presented to councillors to make a fresh ruling.
The work would see the main college building demolished and a new hub built to train students in green technology.
The proposals include a mock hospital ward, a digital technology suite and an electric vehicle workshop.
The council received 37 objections to the scheme from local residents.
Their concerns included parking for staff and students during the construction phase and after the work has been completed.
The latest plans include several changes to the original proposal.
These include a reconfigured car park layout with spaces for 110 vehicles and a new drop-off and pick-up area with a one-way system.
An updated landscaping scheme is also proposed, along with a revised solar panel layout on the roof of the main teaching block.
In a report recommending that members of the Harrogate and Knaresborough planning committee approve the plans when they meet on Tuesday next week, planning case officer Kate Broadbank said:
“The proposed redevelopment of Harrogate College is considered to be acceptable and accords with relevant policies in the adopted local plan.
“Technical matters relating to highways, design, sustainability, heritage, landscape, ecology, trees and land contamination are acceptable and meet relevant local plan policies.”
The planning officer said there was a “degree of conflict” because a small part of the land earmarked for employment uses was being used for non-employment purposes.
But she added:
“This attracts limited weight in the planning balance given the clear benefits of the redevelopment of the college in enhancing skills provision in
Harrogate and the different ownership of the wider allocation.”
Funding for the work has been pledged by the Department for Education (DfE).
It was feared the legal challenge would threaten the release of the money with work initially due to be completed this year, however Harrogate College bosses confirmed this week that ministers had agreed to extend the deadline.
College principal Danny Wild said:
“Our college plays a unique role in training the local workforce and our sustainable new base will enable us to take this to another level as we equip learners, of all ages, with the expertise they need.
“With industry-standard training facilities including a mock hospital ward, an electric vehicle workshop, a construction centre and a renewable energy technology hub, we’ll be able to keep tailoring our courses to meet the evolving demands of local employers.
"By expanding our facilities in some of these high-priority subject areas, we’ll be able to accommodate more students who are on our waiting list.
“In doing so, we will also be supporting the economic priorities that York and North Yorkshire’s mayor, David Skaith, has identified for our region, such as building more housing and using technical innovations to help the transition to net zero.
“This development represents an exciting new chapter for Harrogate College and the communities we serve.”
It is now hoped the hub can open next summer.
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