By Julian Whittle

Last updated 05:43, Friday, 03 October 2008

CARLISLE College must think again after council officials criticised its plans for new buildings as “cost-cutting” and “a big box”.

Moira Tattersall: ‘Training and development is essential to prosperity for individuals and Carlisle’

The £30m scheme aims to replace the wings either side of Strand Road, which date from the 1950s.

Planning permission was granted in 2005. But the college has since changed the design, bringing a frosty response from Carlisle City Council.

A report from conservation officer Richard Majewicz says the latest scheme has a “dark, brooding feel”.

It adds: “The external appearance... is a pale shadow of what might have been. An opportunity has been lost and the diminution of the scheme from earlier proposals and discussions suggests a cost-cutting exercise.

“I feel quite saddened that... despite our encouragement, very little notice has been taken of the comments made. I am unable to support this application.”

Urban design officer Roger Higgins is equally scathing.

His report says: “The proposal is a missed opportunity to provide a college building, which is both modern and yet responds to the special characteristics of urban Carlisle.

“It is a generic ‘big box’, which has not responded to the specific characteristics of the area or to be a significant improvement on the current building.”

The college’s planning application was due to go before the council’s development control committee today. But following a meeting between college officials and planning officers on Monday, it will be delayed until November to allow the architect, Ryder, to make changes.

College principal Moira Tattersall described Monday’s meeting as “really positive”.

She said: “We have had a dialogue with the planners for months now and we have listened to what they said.

“Our architects have gone away and are working on it.”

Mrs Tattersall had previously praised the plans as “aesthetically very attractive”. Speaking at the launch of the scheme this summer, she said it would create something “modern, aspirational and inspirational” that would blend with nearby buildings.

The college has already rebuilt its frontage along Victoria Place. This second phase includes a proposal to create Carlisle’s first dedicated 14 to 19 centre, with an entrance in Compton Street.