City College Brighton and Hove has applied for planning permission to build new classrooms and hundreds of student flats as part of a £73 million modernisation project.
The scheme will involve building a new eight-storey teaching block on the college car park in Pelham Street, Brighton, and replacing the existing tower block with ten floors containing 442 student rooms.
The project also involves demolishing the York, Trafalgar and Cheapside buildings and putting up 125 more homes on the land between Pelham Street and York Place.
Shortly before City College submitted its plans, the Bilingual Primary School deposited plans with Brighton and Hove City Council for a permanent site of its own.
The primary school is currently sharing premises with the Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) in Falmer but will soon outgrow its temporary home.
The school has applied for permission to be based on the edge of Hove Park in the shadow of the Engineerium on the site of a council depot.
And the council has separately applied to make changes to the old Hove Police Station in Holland Road and to convert it into a junior school. It recently bought the site from Sussex Police for £2.2 million.
Officials have applied to build an extension up to three storeys high to make space for a school hall. Changes planned at the site will mean the loss of 45 parking spaces.
Lynn Thackway, the principal of City College, said: “Our aim is to be an outstanding and responsive college at the heart of learning in Brighton and Hove with a commitment to continuous quality improvement.
“This means delivering vocational and professional learning, skills and apprenticeship opportunities in accommodation that is fit for purpose.
“Our proposals for the redevelopment of our Pelham Street campus will help us meet this vision as well as contributing to the economic and social wellbeing of the city.”
City College said that it had changed its plans after consulting neighbours, conservationists and planning officials.
Conservationists were unhappy about the proposal to demolish the Gloucester building. It is now being retained.
The building containing student flats would not be quite as tall as originally intended and would include 442 flats rather than the 500 originally proposed.
The college has also committed to ensuring that a management plan is put in place. This will include 24-hour supervision to manage noise and social behaviour in and around the student halls and to minimise disruption to neighbours.
Mrs Thackway said: “We have listened to local people and adjusted the scheme to meet their concerns while maintaining the exciting elements which make this project something that will contribute greatly to the city’s economy, culture and future.”
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