STUDENTS in Craven will get a new £900,000 purpose-built art, design and media centre.

The district's planners gave their unanimous approval to the proposals to build the new centre on Craven College's Aireville Campus at a meeting this week.

The new two-storey building will have 21 rooms including a television studio, a video editing suite and a recording studio.

It will be situated on the car park adjacent to the existing countryside management block and there will be classrooms dedicated to photography, fine print, life drawing, textiles, woodwork and metalwork.

Sixty-five car parking spaces will also be provided, and, because of this additional traffic, the highways authority has asked for a white line right turning area within Gargrave Road and for other minor visibility improvements.

The new building will help to rationalise all the arts courses into one building and reduce the current problems of overcrowding.

College principal Alan Blackwell told the planning committee that there was "chronic overcrowding" at the college and urgent approval was needed if it was to seize the "window of opportunity" in obtaining a Further Education Funding Council grant.

He added that the college's art courses and facilities had reached saturation point and there were already applications pouring in for next year.

Mr Blackwell said students were forced to work in cramped conditions and frequently had to travel between Snaygill Industrial Estate, Otley Street Community Centre and the Aireville site.

He added that the centre would provide new opportunities for local residents - currently 80 per cent of students attending the college were from Craven.

Mr Blackwell said local primary schools and Aireville School would also have use of the new facilities.

Members of Craven District Council's planning committee welcomed the development.

Coun Beth Graham said: "This is a very high profile and desirable development. It is simply wonderful for students."

However, not everyone was happy with the proposed design of the new building.

Coun Richard Welch said: "I think it is a shame the end product would be more suitable for an industrial estate or at Craven Cattle Mart."

Some concern was expressed by members of the committee over the trees between the site and Gargrave Road, and Skipton Civic Society had asked for a tree preservation order to be made in respect of these trees.

However, the planning report said: "The proposed building will have no effect on the trees being on the opposite side of the building from them.

"However, the car park construction although not requiring the felling of any trees may alter the drainage and general grounds condition in the vicinity. For this reason it may be prudent to avoid using an impervious surface within the car park."

Coun Ken Hart proposed that a pervious material such as grasscrete or something similar should be used to surface the car park.

The plans were approved subject to various conditions concerning external materials, landscape treatment and the highways conditions.

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