Funding threat to delayed college campus redevelopment

Harrogate College has warned that its plans for a £22m state-of-the-art campus redevelopment will be delayed because a challenge to the planning process has sparked a judicial review.

Consent for the project had been secured earlier in spring of this year, but this setback means the planning process will probably need to be run again.

It will push back the project completion date into 2026. The college says this delay may also put at risk £20m worth of Department for Education (DfE) funding for the scheme because the DfE grant and loan funding is linked to completing the work in 2025.

A spokesman for the college said: “The new campus would be perfectly placed to support the region’s skills needs for the future, boosting our businesses and economy while providing targeted training in key areas like green technology.

“The new Harrogate College will also provide the facilities and courses that young people and adults need to start or develop their careers.

“We are now calling on the people and businesses of  Harrogate, Ripon, Boroughbridge, Pateley Bridge and Knaresborough to help us by lobbying the DfE and politicians to ensure that the grant and loan funding for the new college continues to be available for a project completion in 2026.

“With everyone’s support, we will still be able to see this development, which will benefit so many local people for decades to come, through to its completion.”

The college is part of the Luminate Education Group and caters to full and part-time students, offering adult education and apprenticeships.