IN 2009 Abingdon & Witney College was told that its plans for a comprehensive £28m redevelopment of its Witney campus had hit the buffers, along with a host of other colleges’ proposed improvements, when the Learning and Skills Council ran out of money.

Since then, the college has revised its strategy for improvements to the Welch Way campus, instead developing a series of smaller schemes to modernise its facilities in stages.

Today we are delighted to reveal that this approach is set to take another step forward, with a new £10m teaching block planned.

This would sweep away the former magistrates’ court building and allow the college to replace a cluster of temporary classrooms with permanent, purpose-built facilities.

Despite the difficulties that it has faced since the shattering blow to its plans in 2009, the college has continued to deliver a high quality of education for its students, reflected in it having the highest percentage of students getting jobs or continuing education after completing their course among Oxfordshire’s further education colleges.

The college’s governors and senior staff are to be congratulated for their determination to press ahead with efforts to improve facilities.

The latest investment, if approved, will take spending at the campus in the past couple of years to £17.2m, a substantial sum in these straitened times and almost two-thirds of the amount planned to be spent five years ago.

We look forward to reporting on future developments that finally bridge that gap.