A PROPERTY boss at Harrow College has hit out over the collapse of funding for a multi-million pound development.

Harrow College had already invested £10.6m in plans to bring together its two sites, in Harrow Weald and the town centre, into one campus in Lowlands Road by the time the project was axed.

The scheme would have meant increased subject choices, since all teachers and resources would have been available to all students, and improved facilities.

But the college's hopes were dashed when government quango the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) announced it could not make good on millions of pounds promised to Harrow.

The LSC was charged with the job of dishing out public funds to colleges across the country but pledged more cash than it had to offer and so could only give money to 13 out of 160.

Matthew Westmore, director of estates and facilities at Harrow College, spent years working towards what he believed would be a new campus with “absolutely superb” facilities.

He now says he is 95 per cent sure “One Harrow” will not go ahead.

He said: “To think a quango the size of the LSC could not add up, I just cannot understand how they managed to get into this mess. It's just incredible.

“The bottom line is that they messed up and the really sad thing from my point of view is the short-sighted view the Government has taken by not supporting the projects.

“It's quite incredible that they put money into the banks but then do nothing with it and ignore what could have been one of the biggest recession-busting initiatives.”

In the aftermath of the catastrophe many argued that the Government should have raised the money, which stretched into the billions, for all the projects left in crisis by the LSC's mistake.

But if the scheme is doomed it will leave Harrow College around three years to come up with alternative plans before its existing buildings start to deteriorate.

Mr Westmore said the college could raise around £1m to pay for repairs but will seek funding support for as much as £20m worth if it is available.

He said: “We've got three years. There's no panic in this at all but its just unfortunate. We don't know where the cash is going to come from.”

Mr Westmore also blamed the LSC for previous years, dating back to 1993, in which the college was unable to get funding for major projects because it could not raise enough of its own cash.

Unlike similar establishments in rural areas, Harrow has never had large plots of land it could sell off to fund development schemes.

The LSC funded projects where colleges could stump up most of the funding themselves, relying on a smaller amount of financial support, and Mr Westmore says it did this with no regard for educational need.

He told the Harrow Times the college would have required support for around 81 per cent of the total bill.

He said: “For me this was the most scandalous approach the LSC ever adopted. They just ignored need and said if you can afford it you should have it.”

Geoff Russell, the LSC's chief executive, said: “We are confident that we have understood the lessons from the past and have adapted our working practices to the current funding environment.

“We are working together with the sector to explore alternative financing options to support more college projects to be built.”