Cornwall College plans to demolish and rebuild St Austell campus

Cornwall College bosses said they planned for the new buildings to be "transformational" for St Austell

Bosses at a college in Cornwall are planning to demolish and replace most of the buildings on one campus.

Cornwall College principal and chief executive John Evans said plans for the St Austell site would see it become the "first carbon neutral campus in the country".

He added it would also be "transformational" for the town and "people will come from all over".

Mr Evans said the project was set to be completed by the 2025/26 academic year.

The former Ofsted inspector, who began working at the college in 2019, has seen official ratings of the facilities increase from "requires improvement" to "good" within three years, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Meet skills needs'

Mr Evans said the better Ofsted rating had "resulted in a positive budget" after "central government confidence in the institution has grown massively".

The college has also been put forward for a share of a £1.6bn Department for Education pot, which will be split between 16 colleges.

One of the key changes is also to ensure the college plays a major part in the community, Mr Evans said.

He said: "It will be the first carbon neutral campus in the country. It will be transformational for St Austell and people will come from all over."

Another key aspect for Mr Evans was also the need to make sure students were acquiring skills required by local businesses and organisations in Cornwall.

He said: "An effective college is all about meeting local skills needs."

Mr Evans also revealed the college has secured £12m to re-model its Camborne campus, which he also said would be "stunning".