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Planning approval for £16m Ashford College development

Ashford College has received planning approval from Ashford Borough Council to build a new £16m town centre campus.

The college, which was previously known as K College, is now part of the Hadlow Group.

Earlier in the year, planning permission was sought to build a new campus on its Elwick Road The council approved the planning application for the first phase of the redevelopment last week, according to Kent News.

The first phase of the development will start in July, with the college saying that it will be ready to open by the start of 2017 academic year.

The development has received significant backing from The Schools Funding Agency, Local Enterprise Partnership and Ashford Borough Council.

Mark Dance, Kent County Council cabinet member and a member of the Central Ashford Community Forum, has also backed the application, congratulating The Hadlow Group and Ashford Borough Council for progressing the application.

Ashford Borough Council leader Cllr Gerry Clarkson told Kent Online: “This is excellent news and means at long last we can realise our vision for a further and higher education college right in the heart of the town at Elwick Road, adjacent to the International Station. This will greatly assist in the plans to rejuvenate the town centre.

“A highly skilled local workforce is vital for the success of our versatile economic growth in Ashford.

“The college will help put Ashford on the map, which is why we recently agreed to provide funding support, and we are very much looking forward to seeing it.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .