Cronton College will undergo a major expansion after plans for new classrooms were approved by the council.
The sixth form college in Cronton Lane, Widnes, will gain 24 new classrooms along with staff rooms, tutorial rooms and new changing facilities for its sports hall under the plans approved last week.
A notice published on Halton Council’s website on Monday revealed planning permission had been granted on September 2, rather than by the council’s planning committee.
The notice said: “Delaying the determination of the application until a committee could be held may cause problems with funding and delays to delivery and have an impact on investment and delivery of educational provision.”
The planning committee had been due to meet on Monday, but the meeting was postponed at the end of last month.
As chief executive, Mr Parr is able to make urgent decisions under delegated powers, something that happened several times at the height of the coronavirus crisis when the council was unable to meet.
The plans, submitted in January, involve extending the college buildings around the side of the existing sports hall to provide seven classrooms, a staff room, new changing facilities and a gym.
A section of the south side of the college is also set to be demolished and replaced with a new three-storey extension with 17 classrooms.
The project continues Cronton’s recent series of new buildings, including new science labs built in 2015, the IDEA centre built in 2017 and the new theatre finished last year. This will allow the college to further expand student numbers, which have already risen by about 500 since 2016.
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