College proposes £22m development

A college in Kent is submitting plans for a proposed £22m redevelopment of its main campus in Tonbridge.

West Kent College, which runs more than 500 courses, will ask Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council to approve the plans when it submits them on Friday.

It is aiming to provide a college that meets the needs of the local community into the 21st century.

The plans are a revision of the draft proposals the college shared with local residents in October 2004.

Following a public consultation, the college said it had taken on board the views of the local community.

In the revised plans, it will propose to sell only one area to the east of the campus, with the area behind the Weald building to the north of the Brook Street campus kept to provide parking on site.

The college has 12,800 part-time students and 2,300 full-time students, and employs 650 staff.

As well as its main campus in Tonbridge, it has IT centres in Crowborough, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells.