St Albans community urged not to miss college redevelopment consultation

People in St Albans are being reminded to have their say on major redevelopment plans for Oaklands College as preparations continue for a public consultation event taking place next week.

Oaklands College and leading housebuilder Taylor Wimpey are working together to progress a much-needed redevelopment scheme for the College’s St Albans campus, including a new residential development of up to 350 homes on land to the south of Sandpit Lane.

Taking place at Oaklands College in Hatfield Road from 10am to 8pm on Friday 1st March and from 10am to 1pm on Saturday 2nd March, the event will give local residents, businesses, community groups and other stakeholders the chance to find out more about both aspects of the proposed project.

Zoe Hancock, Principal at Oaklands College, says: “We’re really keen to share our vision for the future of the College’s St Albans campus with the community, and we hope that local people will join us on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd March to gain a better understanding of what we are trying to achieve here and why.

“By making a small proportion of our overall site available to our project partner Taylor Wimpey for new residential development, we can unlock the vital funding required to deliver the facilities we need to give young people in this area every opportunity to reach their full potential.

“We believe this important redevelopment project will create an exciting new legacy for St Albans – and we look forward to introducing our plans to the local community during this consultation event.”

The public exhibition on Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd March is the first of two consultation events for the Oaklands College redevelopment scheme. The second event, due to take place in the spring, will show both the College and the residential aspects of the project in more detail as the proposals develop.

Feedback received from members of the public throughout the consultation period will be used to help shape the final scheme before a planning application is submitted to St Albans City & District Council later in the year.

Bill Beyzade, Land and Planning Director for Taylor Wimpey, adds: “Our high-quality residential proposals form an integral part of the College redevelopment scheme, and will bring new investment to St Albans along with much-needed new homes.

“This public exhibition provides a valuable opportunity for local people to find out more about our joint proposals with Oaklands College and discuss the plans in more detail with members of the project team.”