New building to replace temporary classrooms

Image source, Google

  • Author, Tony Gardner
  • Role, Local Democracy Reporting Service

"Dilapidated" 20-year-old temporary classrooms at a sixth-form college in West Yorkshire are to be replaced with a new building.

Wakefield Council has approved plans for the new teaching block at Pontefract New College.

Portable buildings have been used at the college鈥檚 H Block for two decades, despite the original plan to use them for just three years.

A council report said the temporary buildings had reached the point where further repairs would be "uneconomical".

More than 2,000 students聽attend the college each day during the academic year.

The plan includes a permanent building of a similar size to the temporary structure, containing four classrooms.

Image source, Heppenstalls

Image caption, The new building will have space for four classrooms

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the report said: 鈥淭here is a genuine need to replace a dilapidated existing building to ensure the college can continue to provide the high level of education from buildings that are designed to enhance the education experience of students.鈥

The council approved the application despite the building being in a greenbelt area.

The college said the site had been in continuous educational use since 1910 and was established before the council formed its greenbelt policy boundary.

A planning officer鈥檚 report said the new building would聽 鈥渞esult in limited harm鈥 to the surrounding area.