WEST College Scotland bosses are now spending 'millions of pounds' on vital refurbishments to their Greenock buildings after plans for a new college campus was axed.
Work will finally take place to replace the work block roof in the Finnart Street campus which was found to have the 'collapse risk' material RAAC two years.
It comes as staff in Greenock once again raised uncertainties about the future of the college, which has faced a series of cuts in recent years.
The Tele revealed in December that proposals for a new building had been taken off the table after years of promises.
But the college, now under the leadership of new principal Anne Campbell, says it is committed to its future in Inverclyde.
Chiefs are now moving forward with renovations to make both Finnart Street and the Waterfront 'fit for purpose'.
But one concerned insider told the Tele: "Staff have now been told that the work on the new roof will go ahead and completed in February.
"They had previously been told phase two was indefinitely on hold following initial work to strengthen it and make sure it didn't collapse was completed.
"Staff had also been told that the case for a new build was cancelled and no further discussions on it will take place.
"But that means they will have to spend serious money on the campus, there is a huge maintenance bill as far as they were aware no plans have been published for the upgrade of Finnart Street campus, only immediate works and an attempt to maintain it as best possible within funding limitations.
"There have been so many cuts to courses in recent years with some departments left with one course and they are looking for redundancies."
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A new college in Inverclyde had been on the cards for a number of years with a couple of locations including East India Harbour put forward and a business case put to the Scottish Funding Council.
But it never materialised, before it was kicked into the long grass and then scrapped last December.
The Waterfront campus now operates only four days a week with speculation that it would reduce by another day, but this was reportedly dropped.
Director of Student Experience at West College Scotland Nathan Taylor said: “Despite challenging Scottish Funding Council (SFC) budget settlements, the college remains ambitious and committed to providing the best possible experience for our students, staff and the scores of businesses we work in partnership with.
“We continue to make multi-million pound investments in our estate, including in Greenock where our Waterfront and Finnart Street campuses remain pivotal to the delivery of the highest quality learning and training opportunities in Inverclyde.
"The ongoing renovation of the Finnart Street work block, where every year hundreds of apprentices and students learn new skills, will ensure a critical resource remains both fit for purpose and becomes more efficient as we reduce energy costs.
“Over the past year a small number of colleagues have chosen to leave the College through Voluntary Severance schemes.
"The savings generated by that will be realised in the coming year as we continue to address the real-term cuts to funding that are affecting the whole college sector.”
