IT'S now more than four years since the announcement of a new Dunfermline campus for Fife College but there's still no news on when – or if – funding will be granted. 

The Scottish Government made the pledge in October 2014 and a preferred site was chosen – the old Hyundai site at Halbeath – with outline planning permission obtained two years later for a £90 million facility. 

The campus was to accommodate 6,000 students and open next summer but the proposed funding mechanism changed and the money never materialised, with strong hints it'll only be made available if the college shares its campus with replacement high schools for St Columba's and Woodmill. 

Earlier this year, college principal Hugh Hall outlined a number of "legitimate concerns" they had with the private finance schools hub but there's now a more positive mood as, in the past few weeks, they've been given the money to secure the Shepherd Offshore site. 

A college spokesperson confirmed: "We are pleased that we have now acquired the land on which we will build our new campus in West Fife.

"This is a major milestone on our journey to deliver new, fit-for-purpose, state-of-the-art college facilities in this part of Fife and we are grateful to the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council for making the cash available to purchase the land.

"We now look forward to receiving confirmation from the Scottish Government that funding will be made available to enable us to press on with the development and delivery of the new campus."

They added: "As part of the development, Fife College is exploring with Fife Council, the Scottish Government and its agencies, the development of a shared campus that would see Woodmill and St Columba's developed alongside the college. 

"The new campus has the potential to transform the way that we deliver education, learning and skills training to all age groups.

"We are committed to working closely with the council and, importantly, with pupils, students, parents, employers and local communities, to consider how we can best deliver an innovative and high-quality learner experience for our students in much-needed, new, modern facilities.”

Fife Council's executive director of education, Carrie Lindsay, informed councillors last Tuesday that a shared campus was the "best chance" of getting the money needed to replace St Columba's and Woodmill. 

However, it would cost a lot more than the £90m for the stand-alone campus and wouldn't be ready until around 2023. 

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley has written numerous letters to John Swinney since August 2015 pushing for funding for replacement West Fife high schools and the college and said: "It is a complete nonsense and red herring that any replacement of these schools has to be part of some super campus that would have two schools and a college on it. 

"It is time Fife Council got its act together and fought for the funding to replace the two Dunfermline schools as was promised by the SNP."

He said promises about a new college with "21st century facilities and ambition" must also be kept. 

Mr Rowley said: "Fife Council have a duty to stand up for these communities and the only option that they should be progressing to the Scottish Government is the funding to support the council to replace the two schools and quite separate from that, the full funding for a state-of-the-art standalone college as was promised by the SNP government.

"Nothing else would be acceptable."

It seems unlikely the Scottish Government would provide money to buy the land, and not the joint campus, but they remained non-committal when asked for an update. 

A spokesperson said: "The Scottish Futures Trust, the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Government are all working together with Fife Council and the college to ensure the best possible solutions are found for both the schools and the college. 

"As part of this, we are keen to encourage closer collaboration between schools and colleges to improve education opportunities for young people.” 

They also repeated that Fife Council did well out of the Schools for the Future programme with £57m for new schools, although Mr Rowley pointed out the money was allocated by January 2016 and the last of the schools in Fife was built by May 2017. 

He said: "The money the Scottish Government continue to refer to (£57m) when asked about the Dunfermline schools is the funding they they allocated back many years ago as a contribution to the new schools that have been built and are open. 

"It is therefore a complete nonsense when being asked about the Scottish Government making a contribution to the replacement of St Columba's, Woodmill and Inverkeithing that they keep referring to this historical funding they made available."