MORE students, lower costs and the amalgamation of sites in Mitcheldean and Five Acres will be the effects if Gloucester College decides to relocate to a brand new campus in the Northern Quarter.

Last week the college announced its 'favoured' option would be to build a new campus in the Northern Quarter regeneration zone.

College Principal, Greg Smith, told the Review: "The key factors in our decision were the Homes and Communities Agency agreement, in principle, to provide us with a free site, put a trunk road in and supply services like electricity and broadband.

"All we've got to do now is find the money to build the college. I think that's likely to be a mix of public sector funding and existing money in the bank (HCA bought the Five Acres campus site and leases it back to the college)."

The second key factor was public transport.

"There's only two buses properly serving Five Acres. One of the reasons our governors went for Coleford is that it is better served by public transport."

But the decision is not done and dusted.

"I want to stress this is just the first phase," says Mr Smith. "We've got to do a lot of work between now and Christmas, starting with site investigations. There's been so much digging of mines in the area and because we'll be building on the remnants of activity we'd like to know if it's settled.

"We'll also need to know how much space we'll need and how much it will cost.

"But my best guess is we'll need less total space in square metres but will be able to take more students, because the college will be purpose-built and we'll be able to use the space more effectively and more efficiently."

It's not the first new campus Gloucestershire College has been involved in building – new builds are up and running successfully in Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester itself.

"What we've learned is if you give students great facilities you get back great behaviour and more respect because they feel they've got modern facilities. There's also an incredible improvement in staff and student satisfaction."

If the feasibility study falters, the fall-back option would be to retain the campus at Five Acres and its sister site at the Vantage Point Village in Mitcheldean.

"It is an option," agrees Mr Smith. "But Five Acres is old, run down and there are buckets on the floor to catch leaks. Basically it wasn't built for modern education, the wrong space, old space and its hard to heat and costs a lot to run."

One of the aims of building the new college will be to stem the drift of Forest students to Gloucester, Wales and Hereford and attract more students in – an outdoor pursuits course has gone on the curriculum and 15 have already signed up without any advertising.

"And to top it all," says Mr Smith, "We've got a prime location, overlooking the lake and on a hill. Perfect."

•Gloucestershire College's decision to build a new campus in Cinderford is a lynchpin in the District Council's Northern Quarter regeneration scheme. If the new build goes ahead, it is believed other regeneration projects will follow.