Plans for demolition and construction of the new K College were submitted

by political editor Paul Francis

Plans for a new further education college in Ashford that have been stalled for years have already cost the taxpayer £1.8m without a single brick being laid, it emerged this week.

K College says the costs of the campus are partly responsible for the college running up a multi-million deficit that has plunged it into financial turmoil.

Principal Bill Fearon (pictured below) quit his job last week as the full extent of the financial crisis became clear and the college was hit by a strike by staff protesting at job cuts.

But governors were only alerted to the spiralling costs associated with the new campus in July.

Managers cited the £1.8m bill as one of the key reasons why the college was predicting a deficit of £7.1m - which then rose to £11m within the space of a few months.

One of those present at that meeting admitted governors had expressed surprise at the costs, which had not previously been reported.

County councillor Kit Smith (Con) said: “We were surprised, even though it is a big building and has gone through planning which can be an expensive process. I think we knew we had to carry on the process - either you build it or you stop.”

Minutes from the meeting record: “Completion of the new Ashford campus designs and full planning approval had taken longer than anticipated and there had been no external funding for this project (initial cost of £1.8m to date).”

The plan for a £55m campus on an 18,000sq m site at Victoria Road for as many as 40,000 students aged 14-to-19 has been blighted by delays and uncertainty since it was first unveiled in 2007.

The college hinted in a statement that the scheme was unlikely to happen in the near future.

In a statment, it said: “Improved accommodation is still a priority for Ashford and a new campus remains an ambition in the long term.”

K College said it had signed a contract for pre-construction work which covered the costs of preparing and clearing the site, architects’ fees, public consultation, planning approval and public consultation.

In a statement, it added that “typical capital project professional and contractor fees are 10% to 12% of the total cost of the project.”

When plans were first unveiled for a new college campus in 2007, it was claimed it would be the cornerstone of wider regeneration plans for the south of the town.

Architects came up with a design for a futuristic four-storey building clad in zinc and glass, saying it would prove to be a striking landmark “to enthuse both learners and the local community.”

Two years later, it suffered a setback when the quango in charge - the Learning and Skills Council - put a freeze on major schemes because of the recession.

Questions remain about its viability, with many schools now providing the kind of vocational courses that the college was destined to offer.