PLANS to build a new South West College in Enniskillen costing £25 million have been submitted to Fermanagh and Omagh District Council for approval.
The 10 page document provides details on the proposed construction of a new college on the former Erne Hospital site. 
Construction will be of steel frame with a mix of curtain walling and masonry walling over four floors with associated car parking and external works. 
The building is 8200sqm and will accommodate 800 students and 120 staff. 
The application is considered to meet the relevant policy tests within the Fermanagh Area Plan and the Council recommendation is to approve planning permission.
The application site is the southern portion of the old Erne site and existing access arrangements onto the Cornagrade Road will be utilised. This is considered a key site within Enniskillen on approach to the town centre and when viewed from the Queen Elizabeth Road to the south. From this position, the site is elevated, prominent and highly visible and is located within a verdant landscape setting. 
This belt of mature trees to the immediate south of the site and abutting the shoreline is designated as a Local Landscape Policy Area and to the immediate north is the new ambulance station which is currently under construction. To the immediate north east is the former Enniskillen Workhouse, a Grade B2 listed building. 
A final formal reply has not yet been received from Transport NI. However, the Council report states that e-mail communication has clarified that in principle there is no objection to the proposal subject to the provision of a Toucan crossing on Queen Elizabeth Road. 
According to the proposal which was brought to a recent Planning Committee Meeting the educational sector performs highly and above national average, a statistic is noted within the Council’s Corporate Plan 2015 to 2019. 
“The provision of enhanced college facilities within the district is therefore considered to be of significant importance in achieving the Council’s vision of improving the quality of life, quality of places, and quality of services for the people within our district as outlined within this plan. The proposed development is appropriate for the site and is one that is compatible with surrounding land uses.”
The size, scale and massing of the proposal is not one that would be easily accommodated, notes the proposal, and therefore its provision on and re-use of a brownfield site in close proximity to the town centre is a wholly acceptable form of sustainable development.
Some measures include provision of a shortfall in parking, staggered starting times outside the morning peak, provision of a shuttle bus between the campus and the Technology and Skills Centre at Killyhevlin Industrial Estate and control of parking at the campus via a parking permit/car share scheme. In addition, a memorandum of understanding has been submitted which outlines that a further 100 car parking spaces have been made available at the adjacent GAA grounds adjacent to the site.