Plans for a multi-million-pound college extension have been revealed.
East Kent Colleges Group (EKC Group) has unveiled draft plans for one of three schemes making up a £20 million scheme to help revive a seaside town.
The Sheerness Revival project, for the Isle of Sheppey, has been put together by Swale council after successfully bidding for funding from the government’s Levelling Up Fund.
Ideas for EKC Sheppey College’s extension were put on display last week so feedback could be collected before final plans are submitted.
It will provide more places for students at the Bridge Road facility and an expanded curriculum to give opportunities to for careers in key industries.
The newly-developed curriculum will focus on 16 to 19-year-olds and will offer creative, engineering and logistics courses.
Cllr Monique Bonney, chairwoman of the council’s regeneration and property committee, said: “It is great to know that the plans for the college extension are coming together, as there has been a lot of work behind the scenes to get to this stage.
“Projects like these don’t just happen overnight, but this consultation gave the public the opportunity to see some of our ambitious plans taking shape.
“The feedback the college received will help inform their final plans, which will be submitted for planning permission towards the end of February.
“This is a great example of partners working together to make a real difference to the lives of the people in Sheerness, and the wider area.”
This extension is just one of a handful of other schemes that make up Sheerness Revival Project.
New and improved leisure and health facilities are being created at Beachfields, including soft play, adventure golf, TAG active, a new café and outdoor gym, while refurbishments have been made at Masters House to provide space and support for young people to start their own businesses.
Graham Razey, chief executive of EKC, said: “The extension of our EKC Sheppey College is such an exciting project for our group and the whole community on the Isle of Sheppey, which we proudly serve.
“We have always been constrained by space at the college site, so haven’t been able to provide as wide a range of curriculum as we’d wanted.
“This project is going to enable us to expand outwards, building an incredibly exciting new extension to the existing College, and serving up fantastic new curriculum that will meet the needs of Sheppey’s employers.
“The consultation event we held was incredibly positive, with residents on the Island saying how excited they were to see this progressing.”
