A huge complex housing students, elderly people and families is planned for a 14-acre college site used to care for farm animals in the heart of Ewell.
North East Surrey College of Technology (Nescot) wants to build six blocks with 500 bedrooms for students over 18 and 100 bedrooms for students as young as 16.
Opposite would be a retirement care village with about 120 units for independent pensioners through to elderly people who require assistance and care and 79 three and four bedroom terrace and semi-detached homes including six available under the affordable housing scheme.
Epsom Council core policy is for developments of 15 or more dwellings to demand 40 per cent as affordable homes.
The housing and retirement village developments, bordered by Reigate Road, Ewell Bypass and the railway line, would fund renovation and rebuilding at the neighbouring college.
In a letter to residents Nescot Principal Sunaina Mann said: "These changes are not small, they are ambitious and it is natural there will be concerns.
"But they are necessary and they are, we feel, the strongest option not only for us, but for the local area."
There are currently 7,400 households in Ewell, West Ewell and Ewell Court wards.
A Nescot spokeswoman said they must raise funds to bring the college into the 21st century and keep attracting students.
She said: "Otherwise I’m afraid the college could wither on the vine because of students having better choices elsewhere which eventually would be a very great shame for Epsom and Ewell."
She said they need nearly £30m to rebuild and renovate the college, including the creation of a new animal welfare plot, and already have £9m from a government grant.
The student accommodation, which would have clusters of five to six bedrooms with a kitchen and lounge, is expected to cost £21m and would be managed by an operating partner.
Stuart Seymour, who had plans delivered to his home in Reigate Road, asked: "Are we ready for St Trinian’s?
"Are we ready for 600 permanent students on a residential campus in the heart of Ewell Village? These are worrying times."
Mr Seymour said students currently study at Nescot but then go back home afterwards.
He said: "It’s like taking a plug out of a sink. All the students go away. It’s going to be like a blocked drain. There’s nothing for them in Ewell."
He added: "Ewell village is not going to know what hit it. They are going to pour into Epsom."
As well as parking concerns he has safety fears if students, carers, families, ambulances, contractors and other drivers all use the single entry and exit onto Reigate Road.
He said: "It’s very narrow. We have had so many accidents and so many people killed. It’s a well known black spot."
The Nescot spokeswoman said Surrey County Council’s highways team was happy with the plans but they were looking at other access options as well.
She said students were currently taking up family accommodation by sharing flats and houses in the area, adding: "This should relieve some of that and they will be on a more manageable site.
"There will be more control over them because it will be managed rather than having them in accommodation spread across Epsom and Ewell."
In response to fears of St Trinian’s coming to Ewell, Councillor Clive Woodbridge said many students are actually well-behaved and having more people in Ewell could boost local shops and businesses.
He said: "We are a university town now and they do need someone to live."
Of the plans, he said: "It would be a shame to lose a green area. At the moment we have got a rather countryside feel there.
"We do need places for people to live, places for the elderly to be looked after and places for students to live. It’s a balancing act."
Councillor Darren Dale said students going out at night in Ewell may lead to some enforcement issues at local pubs and bars.
But he said: "From a consumer perspective the number of people walking through the village to stock up on supplies will increase. I can see both sides of the coin."
A Nescot spokeswoman said refurbishment and facade improvements to the college would start this summer and if permission is granted then new builds will start next year.
She said: "We would hope that the development work on the farm could start next year, but much will depend upon the planning permission and the continued negotiations with the end users.
“We would be looking to bring students from the rest of Epsom to our site to live from September 2015."
She said Nescot would sell land for housing and undertake a joint venture on the care home.
Planned improvements to the college include a ‘skills park’ extension with a cafe, meeting space, staff offices and teaching space for health beauty and osteopathy courses.
Another building would include teaching and lab space around the building trade and offices.
There is a public exhibition on the plans at the boardroom at Nescot, in Reigate Road, on Saturday, July 27, between 10am and 3pm, and Monday, July 29, between 3pm and 8pm.
Send feedback to nescot@cratus.co.uk or Nescot Consultation, Cratus Communications, Unit 5, Park Works, 16 - 18 Park Road, Kingston, KT2 6BG.
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