Phased bid for college revamp

THE Oldham College is set to submit a new application for its ambitious £80 million revamp, with a view to rebuilding the campus in stages.

The new plan, set to go before the planning committee in the next few weeks, will include all the same elements as the old plan, but will be a phased application.

The college decided on a phased application after the Learning and Skills Council (LSE) threw the original plans into chaos after it announced a review of all spending earlier this year.

With the LSC planning to make a further announcement about funding within days, senior staff at the college are still hopeful about getting the funding.

A spokesman said: “The college team remains very confident that the educational case for the redevelopment is clear and proven. In addition to this, in the current economic climate, the redevelopment work would be a welcome boost to the construction industry and in regenerating the town of Oldham.

“With this in mind, the college is very keen to ensure that the investment comes to the town of Oldham and are working closely with the LSC to facilitate this.

“A phased scheme to rebuild the college site has today been discussed with the local authority in order to plan as much as possible. This is a mitigating strategy, at this stage designed to bring the greatest amount of investment to Oldham.”