Plan for council to buy back Civic Centre for £1

PLYMOUTH City Council is set to buy back the Civic Centre for just £1 in a huge reawakening for the derelict landmark. The Grade II-listed building was sold to Urban Splash in 2015 - but the council is set to exercise a clause enabling them to purchase it back as it reveals new plans.

- DANIEL CLARK

The developers have agreed to sell the building and car park back to the council as part of ambitions to turn it into a City College Plymouth campus, as well as accommodation. The deal is being put forward to place City College Plymouth at the heart of the city.

The new city centre campus could see up to 60 courses being delivered, focusing on the city's emerging marine sector (known as the blue sector) as well as a host of programmes in the environment - the green sector. These courses could range from construction, engineering, energy and science, to offshore wind, electric vehicle technology, battery storage, net zero and sustainable technology.

This could lead to up to 2,000 extra people, from school leavers to adult learners, coming from Plymouth and the surrounding area into the city centre to learn new skills in special facilities, including a sustainable business centre, virtual training labs, science labs, career hubs and other education spaces.