THE first students will have lectures at the new college at the Northern Quarter development near Cinderford next year, insists the leader of the Forest Council.

Moving the Forest campus of Gloucestershire College from Five Acres is a key component of the £100 million development – but it was mired down in legal challenges to the Northern Quarter and planning and funding issues at the beginning of last year.

But council leader Cllr Patrick Molyneux (Con, Hewelsfield and Woolaston) says he is ‘more confident than ever’ that the college will open at the Northern Quarter in September next year.

His comments were made ahead of a meeting of the council’s Cabinet tomorrow (Thursday) which is expected to approve the transfer of land from the council to the college to enable the building of the £15 million facility.

If the free-of-charge transfer of the 5.6 acre site is approved, there will be a covenant on the land restricting its use to state education purposes only.

At the beginning of 2015 Gloucestershire College’s vice-principal, Peter White, told the Review the viability of the move had been affected by the planning process and legal challenges to the overall development.

The college also looked set to lose a £5.5 million grant from the Skills Funding Agency which had to be spent by April 2015.

Cllr Molyneux told the Review: “I’m more confident now than I’ve ever been that everything will fall into place and a college will be on the site in the summer.

“We are behind on the original timetable but the college can still be there for the autumn term next year.”

Gloucestershire College declined to comment.

He said he also expects work to start in April on the spine road that will cross the Northern Quarter – despite a legal challenge to the project.

Cllr Molyneux said: “The way I understand it, it is a technical challenge that doesn’t derail the project.”

The Cabinet meeting will also receive a report on the transfer of the current college campus at Five Acres to the Forest Council.

The college site is an important element in plans to rejuvenate Berry Hill and the transfer from the Homes and Communities Agency to the council will also enable plans to progress.