Browse Sections
Interactive
Popular Sections
Spotty showers; coldNews
| 
Submit Comments
An artist’s impression of how the college may look after it is regenerated
advertisement
Cash injection for college campus
14/ 8/2008
HOPWOOD Hall’s Middleton campus is set for a multi-million pound cash injection as part of plans to regenerate the site.
The Learning and Skills Council is giving further education is Rochdale a £100M cash boost to improve facilities across the borough.
It means that Hopwood Hall College has secured £71M to fund a complete rebuild of the Rochdale campus and substantial regeneration in Middleton, creating a state-of-the-art vocational college by 2011.
Around £30M has also been earmarked for a brand new sixth form centre in Rochdale.
It is hoped the two projects offer Rochdale learners exceptional academic and vocational opportunities in outstanding surroundings.
Once open, the sixth form college - which will be based in Rochdale town centre - will take over all existing A level provision currently offered by Hopwood Hall and local schools, but until then Hopwood Hall will continue to deliver A levels.
Hopwood Hall will remain open throughout the re-development process, offering the full range of courses, with minimal disruption to students throughout the building process. With construction work due to begin in summer 2009, certain courses will be relocated to suitable nearby facilities as the project moves thorough each phase towards completion.
The news has been welcomed by Terry Piggott, executive director for children and young people’s services at Rochdale Council.
Assistant director for Corporate Services at Hopwood Hall, Sarfraz Arfan said: "The scale of this investment provides a rare opportunity to create a learning environment that will benefit current and future generations. Exciting and challenging times lie ahead and over the coming months we will be engaging staff, students, parents, future students, schools and the local community to ensure the outcome is the best possible fit for everyone. We also aim to maximise the community benefit during the construction phase, by inviting local subcontractors to tender work packages and provide employment opportunities for new entrants and skilled workers, wherever possible."
The Middleton Campus will keep the listed Milnrow building of local importance. These buildings will be redeveloped and include the creation of a new multi-purpose events space and performance venue for the performing arts students who are to re-locate from their current facilities on the Rochdale campus. Old residential units will be demolished with land returning to grass and woodland.
Tell us what you think. Email your comments to middletonguardian@menwn.co.uk or click on 'Submit comments'
Most recent 1 of 1 user comments
Got an opinion you want to share?| Card | BT Fee |
| Virgin Credit Card | 2.98% |
| Capital One Low Rate Balance Transfer | 1.7% |
| Capital One Low Rate Platinum | HASH(0x2ba4c056cfd0) |
| Capital One Fixed Rate Card | 0.0% |
| Company | Typical APR |
| Platinum Exclusive Loan | 7.8% |
| Bank of Scotland (Semi-exclusive) | 8.6% |
| Halifax (Semi-exclusive) | 8.6% |
| Alliance & Leicester | 8.7% |
| Sainsbury's Personal Loan | 8.9% |
| Provider | AER* |
|
ICICI BANK HiSAVE Savings Account |
5.50% |
|
SAINSBURYS FINANCE Internet Saver |
4.00% |
|
FIRST DIRECT Everyday e-Saver |
2.75% |
|
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER Online Tracker |
6.00% |
|
ABBEY Instant Access Saver (Special Issue 2) |
6.00% |
|
ING DIRECT Savings Account |
6.00% |
|
ALLIANCE & LEICESTER eSaver - Issue 2 |
6.30% |
|
ABBEY eSaver Direct |
6.00% |
|
POST OFFICE Instant Saver |
3.75% |
Since when did additions to existing colleges cost £71 million?
Ugly modern buildings do not make successful scholars. Take Eton and many Oxford collges- they have dodgy plumbing and are even decrepid in places but the standard of education is world class.
We need to wake up and investigate why the replacement of school buildings in the Borough is costing so much money. Hundreds of millions of pounds? We will all be paying for this wasteful extravagance for decades. In fact many PFI builds are so shoddy, they will not last the contract term.
Regeneration is become an abused term. Invest in young people not in fancy glass, concrete and stainless steel boxes that feed the coffers of the investment funds and civel engineers that work far too closely with certain council officers, the Impact Partnership and Rochdale Development Agency.
As the credit cruch bites -those who have ripped this town off should be made to account for their past years of wasteful , egotistical meddling.
They know who they are, and they have not been earning their £100k pa wages drawn from OUR council taxes.
TIME TO GO.
19/08/2008 at 21:56