Setback for college's £100m modernisation bid

It hoped to relocate its Flackwell Heath courses to a new High Wycombe town centre campus, to transfer courses to the new sites and dispense with the Chesham campus, which dates back to the 1970s.
In May Chiltern District Council granted conditional planning permission to demolish the existing building on the Amersham campus and to replace it with a new three-storey detached building.
But the college has been told by the Learning and Skills Council, which was leading an England-wide programme of renewing the physical infrastructure of college buildings, it cannot approve the bid due to a lack of funds.
Peter Marshall, college director of finance, said: "The change in the Government's policy on funding college buildings is a disappointing set-back but the college is still determined to provide stimulating accommodation for our students and new buildings are the best way of doing this.
"Although we are unlikely to know for some time whether the Government will support the college we are looking at alternative ways to achieve our aims."
The LSC's total project costs across the country were 'manageable' until last Spring, however costs increased due to less well-off colleges joining the scheme and funds being spent on promoting the project, according to a House of Commons Public Accounts Committee report. The economic slump hit the scheme hard, forcing the LSC to prioritise its funding, it added.
Cheryl Gillan MP for Amersham and Chesham, said: "I saw the plans with Gill Clipson the principal. I thought they were excellent plans for moving the college forward and providing the right sort of education for our local people. I share their disappointment, which obviously I am very cross about because I think the plans were really very good."
"I think it's really important to continue to provide in our area the best possible education and I do think the college provides excellent opportunities for both its full time and part-time students."
Mrs Gillan added that she had pledged to help the college 'any way she can' .
LSC chief executive Geoff Russell said: "We are confident that we have understood the lessons from the past and have adapted our working practices to the current funding environment. We are working together with the sector to explore alternative financing options to support more college projects to be built."
The LSC, which is due to be abolished next year and its powers handed over to local education authorities, is set to re-evaluate plans in its budget for next year, following a pledge of £300m additional funding for college building in this year's Government budget.
What do you think of the decision? Leave a comment below.