The future of a large college redevelopment project has been thrown into doubt by a local businessman’s legal challenge and tight funding deadlines set by the Department for Education (DfE).
In 2022, Harrogate College, part of Luminate Education Group, celebrated winning £20 million from the DfE to completely redevelop its site.
But following delays caused by a planning dispute with a neighbouring business park, Luminate is now publicly campaigning for the DfE to extend a spending deadline to avoid losing the funding completely.
The plea for an extension raises questions about whether tight government budget deadlines give colleges enough room to manoeuvre when managing large or complex projects.
The DfE’s funding – a £16 million FE Capital Transformation Fund grant and £4 million loan, bolstered by £2m from Luminate – came on the condition that building work must be complete by March 2025.
But the college says threats of a judicial review challenge to the planning application, made by the owner of a neighbouring business park, mean the rebuild is likely to continue to September 2026.
Luminate’s campaign has won the support of recently elected Labour mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, who today published an open letter to new education secretary Bridget Phillipson warning that missing the “valuable window of opportunity” for funding would be a “damaging outcome” for the college and region.
Principal of Harrogate College, Danny Wild has also said: “I hope the levels of local and regional support for the project are recognised by the new education secretary and our request for an extension to the funding timeline is approved.”
No decision on extending the deadline is understood to have been made by the DfE yet.
‘I think it’s wrong’
The legal challenge is being brought by Hornbeam Park Developments, although the exact grounds are yet to be confirmed.
The company’s owner Chris Bentley told FE Week he is in favour of modernising the college’s facilities, but has several concerns, including whether taxpayers are getting value for money through the redevelopment, the way North Yorkshire Council approved the planning application without a public meeting and a loss of parking spaces.
Despite the size of the redevelopment, and 31 local objections, North Yorkshire Council chose to sign off the planning application in April this year without holding a public committee meeting.
Bentley questioned whether Harrogate College should demolish its building after refurbishing it at a reported cost of £6 million in 2016.
He suggested that rather than rebuild on its current site, the college should move to a neighbouring playing field which Hull College owns and has been attempting to sell for redevelopment.
The businessman, who reportedly also threatened North Yorkshire Council with a separate judicial review in 2023, said: “I’m not prepared to accept it sitting down when the college have alternatives.
“I’m completely in agreement with providing the best possible facilities for educational needs.
“But it’s only about seven years since they spent money on a building that is proposing to be demolished – I have similar buildings that will probably stand for another 100 years.
“I will vigorously progress this [judicial review] because I think it’s wrong for the college and for the taxpayer to build on the site and it doesn’t have the possibility for expansion.”
Bentley added: “It’s so short sighted – it’s complete insanity.
“I will put all my efforts and resources to frustrate it and thwart it because it’s wrong, someone at the DfE needs to come and have a look at the site.
“It’s been seven years since they spent six million on the site and now they want to throw it all away.”
A Department for Education said they do not normally comment on cases of individual colleges.
North Yorkshire Council’s assistant director of planning, Trevor Watson, said the college’s April planning decision is now expected to be “quashed” and re-run.
He claimed the original decision was taken “in accordance” with its usual policy on dealing with planning applications.
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