There is a spring in the step of Bexley College after news that its hopes of moving to a new, modern campus have taken a giant leap forward. LINDA PIPER finds out more.

LOOKING out in the sunshine across the treetops to the River Thames and the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge it is difficult to understand why anyone would want to leave such an attractive spot.

But river views cannot make up for an ageing building which costs a fortune to maintain, on a steeply sloping site where there are minimal public transport links.

Bexley College has occupied its landmark tower block building in Tower Road, Erith, since the 1970s.

Formerly Erith Technical Institute, it was founded in 1907 and its location was useful for the many heavy engineering and manufacturing industries which stretched along the nearby riverfront.

But times have changed.

The heavy industry has gone, many students have to drive to the campus and there is no nearby shopping centre with banking facilities and a choice of places to eat.

And its state-of-the-art hair and beauty salons, which are open to the public, cannot drum up customers because older people find the walk from the road into the campus too steep.

The college has been planning its move for some time.

It closed and sold its sites in Main Road, Sidcup, and the St Joseph’s annexe in Woolwich Road, for housing developments and put the cash in the bank.

And recently it announced it is in talks with Bexley Council about moving the college to the Walnut Tree depot site in Erith’s town centre.

New principal Danny Ridgeway and his deputy Martin Peat are now celebrating an official seal of approval, with a successful bid for £225,000 from the Schools Funding Agency (SFA) towards the development of their plans for a new college.

If everything goes according to plan, the new college will be ready for the start of term in September 2014.

Its Holly Hill construction campus will remain where it is.

The college has already begun to shortlist potential developers.

The plan is for the developer to build the new college and then take over the Tower Road site for residential development.

Mr Peat said: “We don’t intend to overdevelop Tower Road. We are not interested in building another Larner Road estate here.”

When completed, the college’s 4,000 students will move into a modern sustainable building, next to Erith railway station and on numerous bus routes, with easy access to Erith town centre and the leisure centre.

Mr Peat said: “There are no minuses to this scheme.”

Mr Ridgeway explained: “The building will be outfacing so the public can see students working in the salons and other departments and there will be easy disabled access.

“Community links are very important to us.”

They see the move as safeguarding the college’s future.

Mr Peat said: “We have all the modern facilities here, but the building costs a lot to maintain and we would rather spend that cash on the students.”

The college has no plans to increase the number of students or extend its range of courses, but says if government funding was available it would have capacity at the new college to expand.

Mr Ridgeway says his 250 staff are fully behind the plans and one of the best things has been its working partnership with Bexley Council.