News

Latest News in order of date:

Below is a list of ‘mailouts’ to the Alumni by Alan Parker.  If you wish to be on this list, then please fill out the form on the Contacts Page 

Mail sent 29th Jan 2016   Reunion booking notice
Mail sent 20th January 2016  (Update about rescuing artifacts from Hostel Blocks and Reunion)
Mail sent Christmas 2015       (Update report and request for ideas about things to be saved from the hostels)
Mail sent 24th October 2015  (About the meeting with Rushbond)

Historic information below:

The future of the Hall itself and adjacent hostel blocks and buildings now seems to be set.  The stages and timings of developments are still less than certain.

Here are the details of what has already been through the Council planning process.  This was passed on 18 April 2013:

12/01526/LBC | Conversion of the Mansion House to form a 120 bed hotel with ancillary restaurants, bar, spa, conference, wedding facilities and temporary marquee locations (C1) incl erection of 3-storey extensions to the north and east wings and the partial demolition of later addition extensions to the mansion and full demolition of Alec Clegg, Refectory, Student Services bungalow and hostel/ancillary buildings; conversion of the Camellia House to ancillary hotel use; conversion of the Stables, Coach House, Theatre, Library and link block to 6 office units (B1(a)) and/or non-residential insitutions (D1); and associated new access roads,car parking, infrastructure and landscape works. | Bretton Hall College Park Lane Bretton Wakefield Wakefield WF4 4LG

At the Reunion held 11th May 2013, a representative of Rushbond P.L.C. came along and made a presentation to the Alumni about the developer’s vision for Bretton.  We can’t show you the images from the presentation due to copyright, but really the only aspect of the plans that really disturbed the assembled Alumni was the idea of calling the new project ‘The Bretton’.  Besides sounding pretentious (and sounding rather like a small three-bedroomed house on a new-build Barratt estate), it goes against what the Hall has been called since its inception.  I believe that the representative of Rushbond took Richard Flowerday’s appraisal of why it shouldn’t be given that name seriously.  (I hope)

The Alumni were also given reassurances about the future of the Camellia House (this had prompted the largest number of objections from former students, English Heritage and other statutory consultees), noting that this could have been described more clearly in their applications. To them, ‘ancilliary hotel use’ didn’t mean storage for catering equipment and marquees that would risk damaging precious plants; they said it meant restoring the building and protecting the plants, using the space for occasional wedding photography etc and keeping it open to the public ‘as much as possible’ so sculptures could continue to be displayed. Wakefield’s planning consent included delivern of a ‘Marquee Strategy’, having removed two of the original marquee locations that were deemed too close to the Camellia House.  We hope this will be enough, but encourage everyone to keep an eye on the development as it progreses.

Alan Parker.  2013