East Durham College is delighted that Stage 1 planning approval for a major redevelopment at its Houghall Campus, in Durham, was approved last week (5 March 2025).
The college presented its planning application at Durham County Council’s County Planning Committee meeting and received unanimous support from councillors, who noted the facility’s influence on the local agricultural sector.
Scott Bullock, Principal and Chief Executive of East Durham College, said: “We are delighted our plans were met with unanimous support from the committee and we have now been granted approval in principle.
“It was back in April 2021 that the college first received the news that the Department for Education had included Houghall in its £1.5bn FE Capital Transformation Fund, so it’s been an extremely long road, with a lot of hard work, to get to this point.
“The plans will now go forward to the Secretary of State for the final planning approval process. However, this is an extremely positive step towards this exciting new development for the college and the region.”
As part of the development, East Durham College plans to build a substantial, two-storey, purpose-built teaching and learning block at the heart of the campus site which will replace existing outdated infrastructure.
If approved, the development will create a large amount of new classroom space, new science labs, new lecture theatre, new refectory, improved social spaces and an updated library space.
Further to this, the college plans to build a new lambing and sheep shed within the agriculture centre and improve landscaping and walkways between the new block and other buildings.
Scott added: “Houghall is the largest specialist land-based college in the North East, and this multi-million-pound investment will enable the next phase of the college’s ambitious redevelopment plans for the Houghall estate, ensuring students receive the very best experience and training in land-based education for many years to come.”
It is hoped that the redevelopment will be completed by September 2026, with work beginning as soon as final planning permission is in place.
