A North Yorkshire college has defended its redevelopment plans after a campaign was launched to fight the £22m scheme.
Planning officers at North Yorkshire Council have recommended that the Harrogate College rebuild is approved when councillors due to meet next week.
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 authority had not considered whether an environmental impact assessment was needed.
A judicial review upheld the appeal and quashed the original planning application and the plans are now being presented to councillors to make a fresh ruling.
Mr Bentley’s company has continued its opposition to the project, however, and has launched RE:VISION – Harrogate College, a campaign calling for a rethink on the scheme.
Its objections include the proposal to demolish the college’s main teaching block, which it says was only refurbished eight years ago.
The campaign group is also critical that the replacement college is smaller than the current facility and about the amount of available parking on the site during the construction of the college and once it has been completed.
Campaign group spokesperson David Waddington, consultant with Hornbeam Park Developments, said:
“This isn’t about opposing investment.
“We want Harrogate College to thrive and for students to be given the best further education experience to help them succeed — but these plans just don’t add up.
“The scheme in its present form is simply madness and a waste of public funds.
“The new building has been described as ‘future-proofing’ the college – but in reality, it fritters away millions in public funds by demolishing a recently upgraded facility, slashes the site’s value, causes years of parking chaos on local roads and locks the college into a downsized building that jeopardises its capability to meet rising student demand.”
The campaign group wants to see the college built on vacant land adjoining the existing campus instead.
Mr Bentley said this would preserve the existing main building, allowing it to be sold for its maximum value on the open market, which would help fund the new build.
He added:
“Harrogate College has tremendous potential.
“Unlocking it will require bold ambition and a development approach that truly supports students and benefits the wider Harrogate economy for years to come.”
In response to the concerns, Danny Wild, principal of Harrogate College, said they were working with contractor Caddick to minimise disruption during the construction and were confident that the 105 parking spaces planned for the new campus would be “more than sufficient”.
He added:
“Whilst Harrogate College underwent a £6m renovation in 2016, while the college was then under different ownership, we are confident the vast majority of those development costs will be recycled into the new building.
“The Technology Centre, which was built in 2016 and formed a significant part of the funding allocated, will remain in full use, while capital items purchased to refurbish studios and labs will be transferred to the new buildings.
“Any concerns over the project’s value for money should be reassured by the strict Department for Education application process, where the college had to submit a detailed cost analysis and options appraisal of refurbishing the current site versus a new build.”
Mr Wild said that although larger in size, the current teaching building contained “significant unusable teaching space”.
He added:
“A smaller, but purpose built, building will better enable us to meet student demand, support regional skills priorities, and grow overall student numbers in a higher quality setting."
The majority of funding for the work has been pledged by the Department for Education.
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