- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday October 8 2008 09.51 BST
Inventor and industrialist James Dyson said he 'deeply regretted' having to shelve plans for the school. Photograph: Sam Frost
Sir James Dyson, the millionaire vacuum inventor, has been forced to abandon his plans to set up a new school in Bath after the government rejected his funding bid.
The entrepreneur hoped to open a pioneering school of design and engineering – the Dyson School of Design Innovation – in Bath.
Through his charity, the James Dyson Foundation, he had pledged £12.5m to the £56m project that was to be joint-funded by the government.
Dyson's plans have been hampered by planning and funding battles over the past four years.
The most recent opposition from the Environment Agency led to the local government minister, Baroness Andrews, calling a planning inquiry into the school's proposed location on a flood plain, which Dyson estimated could cost a further £1m in fees.
Yesterday, Dyson said the government had now rejected his latest funding proposal, which was the final nail in the school's coffin.
He said: "Faced with a planning inquiry and this government's recent rejection of our funding proposal, we have no choice but to abandon the plans for the school.
"We deeply regret having to give up on the opportunity to provide an exciting education for our young people."
But he said he was still determined to help young people in design education.
He said: "We now intend to find another way to nurture young engineers – this time on our own terms."
The project, which was first welcomed by government in 2004, has been in the planning process since July 2006.
In December of the same year, issues with the building design on the proposed site were raised by government, forcing a redesign, increasing costs and causing a lengthy delay.
In March, the Bath and North East Somerset authority voted in favour of the planned school, despite a planning officer's report recommending the reverse, but an objection by the Environment Agency meant the application was referred to the Government Office of the South West.
Proposals for the school, which could not have accepted students until 2012 at the earliest, focused on providing 14- to 19-year-olds with opportunities to do hands-on engineering projects with industry experts.
Dyson was keen to have the site in Bath because it is the city where he began his engineering career with manufacturer Rotork.
