Plans for a phased redevelopment of Calderdale College have been given the go-ahead by Calderdale Council’s Planning Committee.

“This is another step towards realising our ambition of first class facilities for Calderdale students”, said Calderdale College Principal, Chris Jones. “We are now working towards completing the process of appointing a contractor so that we can start on site as soon as possible”.

Calderdale College has independently secured finance of £6.6m for phase one of the new proposals which includes a sports hall, fitness suite, dance studio and all-weather pitch to support the College’s growing football, rugby and dance academies. These facilities will be available for community use.

In addition, a new entrance and atrium for buildings on the west side of Francis Street, on the present Princess Mary site, will be linked to the main Percival Whitley entrance on the east side by an external landscaped connection, bringing the two campuses closer together. There will also be a new entrance to the main site, partial refurbishment of the ground floor and redecoration throughout.

Phase two, for which the college is still seeking finance but which has also gained planning permission, would be a new three-storey teaching block and state of the art IT learning resource centre alongside the new sports hall.

Phase one is expected to take one year to complete and disruption to teaching will be minimal. The College has retained the services of award-winning architects Jefferson Sheard and of Ripponden-based Stephen Byrne Associates as project managers.