York College today unveiled plans to build a £35 million new campus.

A planning application will be submitted in the New Year to build a new college on the current sixth-form campus, following consultation with local and community groups.

A separate application will also be made to City of York Council for housing development on 23 acres of the existing further and higher education campus a short distance away in Tadcaster Road.

The new college could be up and running by 2006.

Today's announcement comes three years after the merger of the old York College of Further and Higher Education and York Sixth Form College.

College principal Mike Galloway hopes the sale of the FHE campus land would raise the majority of the cash needed to fund the new building. Bids would be made to organisations such as the Learning and Skills Council for the rest.

But he stressed that no final decision had yet been taken on where to build the new campus. "A new college on the sixth-form site is just one option being considered by the college governors and management team," he said.

"We are keeping an open mind about the future location. The site has undoubted appeal, but we have several other options under consideration, and we are in discussions with a number of partners about the possibility of locating elsewhere in the city."

One other option which has been under consideration is to build the new college at York Central, the major new redevelopment project on the "Teardrop" site behind the National Railway Museum.

Mr Galloway said that, whichever location was chosen, the major concern would be that all students would continue to get the best education during the transition.

He said the new 27,500 square metre model college would have superbly equipped teaching and learning facilities with flexibility to meet changing demand.

"We have an excellent college at present, delivering a first-class education to students from the city and beyond. But looking ahead, we need to plan now to ensure that in five years time, we will be meeting the changing needs of future students."

He said the current buildings were costly to maintain, and the new building would save almost a million pounds a year in running costs.

Mr Galloway said the college wanted a building that reflected the importance of the site's location at one of the major gateways into the city.

College governors are considering an architectural competition when a location is finally agreed.

York College has 12,500 full and part-time students and employs about 750 full and part-time staff.

Updated: 11:38 Monday, October 14, 2002