CONSTRUCTION of the new £2.5-million international centre at Tavistock College has finally been given the green light ? Devon County Council has granted planning permission for the project.

The scheme to create the new building, which will include 16 new classrooms with high-tech teaching equipment plus staff facilities, hit a snag in September, after the Environment Agency objected to the building?s construction, which they said would lie within a flood plain.

But following submission of a flood risk assessment survey by Devon County Council, the agency has withdrawn its objection.

Its only concerns now centre on surface water run-off, which will be addressed by contractors developing the site. Planning permission for the scheme has now finally been granted.

Tavistock College principal John Simes said: ?It?s great to know that construction can now finally begin ? it?s a very exciting time for us.

?The whole college has been waiting with bated breath for some considerable time now ? our teachers and students can?t wait to move in.?

Mr Simes said the building design was of ?excellent quality? and once completed, the college would have some of the best facilities in the South West.

He said two temporary classrooms were due to be moved at the site within the next two weeks, in preparation for the project. Parking arrangements and capacity would also be affected during construction, but he was confident the college would cope during the coming months.

West Devon and Torridge Liberal Democrat MP John Burnett said he was ?absolutely delighted? the project could finally move forward ? but he was critical of the county council?s handling of the scheme, which has been delayed by five months.

He said: ?The lack of co-ordination in dealing with this application has been pitifully incompetent.

?I am writing to the chief executive of the council for an explanation. The money for this scheme has been secured for well over a year. This sort of delay, which has unnecessarily disadvantaged students and staff, must never happen again.?

But Devon?s lead councillor for schools Conservative John Hart said Mr Burnett may not be in ?full possession of the facts? surrounding the Tavistock extension.

?We are currently in the middle of an unprecedented programme of school building and improvements and a number of schools in Mr Burnett?s constituency have benefited, as have many others around Devon,? he said.

?As a county council we were subject to mixed messages from the Environment Agency over the requirement for a flood alleviation plan, however I do not intend to be dragged into name-calling through the media.?

He said the situation had now been resolved and the council?s contractors, Mowlem, hoped to have the ?excellent new building? ready for the start of the school year in September 2004, the original target date.

?I believe everyone should now get behind this project and celebrate the undoubted benefits it will bring to Tavistock Community College and its pupils, who are the most important people in all of this,? added Mr Hart.