PENRYN College has been given the final go ahead for a new £22.5 million state-of-the-art building after almost ten years of waiting.

Cornwall county council's planning committee voted unanimously last Thursday to support the scheme for a replacement school and work is expected to start almost immediately.

Headteacher Marie Hunter was extremely pleased with the decision. She said: "We have been waiting a long time for this and now it is all finally going through, it is just like a dream come true for the school. I have not been able to stop smiling.

"This will not only be a new school building that the staff and pupils can benefit from, but it will be a community building and it will provide great opportunities to the Penryn area."

The new school building, which will cater for up to 1,060 students and 200 full and part-time staff, has been designed by Poynter Bradbury Wynter Cole.

The building, which will be constructed around a pedestrian street linking the entrance and department areas, has been designed to meet the latest environmental requirements.

This includes the use of low energy and renewable energy design features, including light wells, wind turrets, a biomass wood boiler system to provide heating, passive ventilation and rain water harvesting for re-use in toilet systems.

A school travel plan will also be developed to reduce car travel and increase coach and bus usage.

Henry Preston, chairman of governors for Penryn College, said: "The college is absolutely delighted with the granting of the planning permission.

"The partnership of the college, Cornwall county council, Carillion and it's architects, Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole, have only been working on the design of the school since the middle of September last year and to achieve planning permission within a seven- month period is no mean feat by any standard."

He said the new school was on target to open in September 2008.

"This is a really exciting time and all the staff and students at the college are looking forward to the opening day."

The design has a two-storey glazed roof "street" running down the building's spine with teaching, resource and sports spaces accessed either side.

"Sustainability is at the forefront of the design," remarked architect Cedric Wynter.

Penryn College is a Specialist Sports College and, as well as the indoor sports facilities, the project is to include athletics and sports fields including two all-weather synthetic pitches.

David Malen, project manager, said: "This is the first project in Cornwall to be built under the government's Building Schools for the Future' initiative. Cornwall county council is pleased that it is both on budget and a year ahead of all the other BSF schools in the South West."

Construction is to be carried out by Carillion Regional Building, whose contracts manager Kevin Bate is a former Penryn College pupil. "Everyone at Carillion is excited by this groundbreaking project," remarked Kevin, "but what is particularly pleasing for me is to be building the school which my own children will attend."