Shops and homes to replace college
12:54pm Tuesday 20th February 2007 in Education News By Rob Devey
NEW homes, shops, leisure facilities and offices could go up on the site of Bolton Community College near Bolton town centre.
The college is to move to a new site, off Deane Road, which it will share with Bolton Sixth Form College's north campus.
Up to half of the community college's current land in Manchester Road could be sold off for housing development.
And, according to a council development brief, the rest of the land could be used for shops and "leisure" buildings, which could include hotels, restaurants, bars and cafes. Bolton Sixth Form College would leave its present campus in Smithills Dean Road to move to Deane Road, alongside the community college.
And the 8.6-acre site could also include an "iconic" gateway building of up to five storeys and a public multi-storey car park.
A Bolton Council blueprint says homes, offices, leisure and health facilities could also be included on the Deane Road site.
The land involved is currently home to the council's Wellington Yard street cleaning depot - which is likely to remain open - children's services offices and Deane Road and Stanley Street car parks which offer a total of 570 spaces.
Cllr Ebrahim Adia, the council's executive member for development, said: "This is an exciting opportunity to group education facilities together as part of our broader plans for a Cultural Quarter.
"These sites are both gateways on roads leading into Bolton and can create a very strong impression on people arriving in the town, so we're keen for some high-quality designs.
"Both will create new jobs and it's about making the most of both sites and gaining maximum economic benefit for the town centre."
As well as the sixth form college's north campus leaving its current home in Smithills Dean Road, the south campus, in Lever Edge Lane, is also on the move - to a new £12 million building in Farnworth.
Both the community college and the sixth form college have stressed the plans do not mean a merger and they would retain their individual identities.
