More detail has been revealed on plans to knock down three former teaching blocks at Salford City College’s Walkden campus to make way for up to 24 houses.
Manchester firm Ruth Jackson Planning Ltd submitted the outline plans to Salford City Council last week.
Under the proposal, a 10,000sq ft 1970s sports hall, a 1960s two-storey teaching block and an art block would be demolished at the college campus on Walkden Road.
The college decided to sell off the land to raise around £2.1 million after seeing a huge cash shortfall from centralised funding cuts.
It told SalfordOnline.com today that it would place the 0.85-hectare piece of land on the market if and when outline planning permission was granted.
The land up for development is edged in red
The Glass House training restaurant will stay under current plans
A public consultation launched by the college is due to expire on 9 June 2016.
Read: Parents and neighbours lay out concerns over Walkden campus demolition
The move comes in response to drastic central government budget cuts which have left a black hole in the college’s finances.
87 jobs have had to be cut in order to balance the books.
Last year the college announced it would have to make 57 job cuts after budgets from Skills Funding dropped by a staggering £3 million.
In April it was revealed that 30 more jobs would have to go.
Read: Outcry as 30 more jobs cut at Salford City College
At the time, CEO & Principal, John Spindler said in the body’s Annual Business Review that the cuts were necessary to “ensure that the College remains in good financial health”.
In a Business Transformation Plan outlined earlier this year Salford City College want to turn each of their five campuses into ‘Centres of Excellence’ for specific subjects.
“The new facilities would enhance the learning experience for students and provide them with the very best environment in which to study,” a spokeswoman for the college said today.
By September 2016 Walkden would be a centre for hospitality and catering, hair and beauty and health and social care, including the NHS Cadets programme.
The cash from the land sale would be re-invested in improved catering facilities, a commercial restaurant, a new ‘e-learning hub’ and a hair and beauty salon for commercial use.
The current Animal Care course at Walkden will be moved to the Eccles campus where there is more land space for better facilities.
More pressure is being heaped on the college from fewer or falling student applications, as well as increased competition from the proposed merger of Bury and Bolton colleges.
Add to this a severe budget shortfall and education bosses are having to be creative when it comes to balancing the books.
The plans
As it stand the plans are outline only at the moment.
That is, everything from the layout of the houses to the internal roads could change by the time a developer asks for full planning permission.
Up to 24 homes could be built, ranging from two to four bedrooms, with both front and rear gardens.
Each would have its own parking space or detached garage.
All will be two storeys high but could be terraced, detached or semi-detached.
Access to the new estate would be from Edge Fold Road.
In a Crime Assessment one design consultant says he has “a fundamental concern with regards the inclusion of the footpath immediately north of no. 103 Walkden Road, connecting the proposed development to Walkden Road.
This should be deleted from the plan, he says, as “narrow, secluded footpaths such as the one indicated on the illustrative plan provide easy access and escape opportunities for criminals”.
Residents living nearby have already expressed concerns about the impact the new houses could have on traffic, health and primary school places locally.
But a transport statement says the development is in a good area for rail and bus services and calculates the number of extra cars would have an “imperceptible impact” on local roads.
While three blocks will be demolished, the main administration block, an impressive red-brick building which is locally listed, will remain, alongside the Learning Resources Centre, which was built in 2008.
Councillor Richard Critchley, who represents Walkden South, said: “These plans will have big implications for the future of higher education in Walkden.
“It is disappointing that the college is reducing the size of its Walkden campus but they have made assurances that the money raised from this development will be invested to enhance the remaining teaching facilities at the site.
“I would encourage anyone with any concerns to write to the council to ensure that their views are heard.
As a whole the college is rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.
Council planners are due to decide on the outline proposals by Friday 5 August 2016.
