A £60 million plan to site Shrewsbury’s two colleges on one campus has been thrown out by planners after four years of wrangling.
Campaigners battling the plans to locate Shrewsbury Sixth Form College and Shrewsbury College of Art and Technology on the same London Road site said they were delighted by the decision.
College officials will now study the decision by Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council to reject the plans before deciding what action to take.
Today members of the SOS group, formed 18-months ago to fight the move, said they were delighted it had been rejected at a public meeting at Shrewsbury’s Music Hall last night, attended by more than 200 people.
Helen Johnson, SOS spokeswoman, said: “It was resoundingly rejected and for sound planning reasons, which would stand at any planning meeting at any level and public opinion will not change. We only ever sought to represent public opinion and have been able to demonstrate it is against the plans.”
Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, who also opposed the move, said: “I’m sending an open letter this morning to the principals of both colleges to formally withdraw their application because it’s been overwhelmingly rejected by the most important people, the councillors, who are answerable to the people of Shrewsbury.
“I will be asking them to go back to the Learning and Skills Council and do what they should have done in the first place and apply for funding for both colleges at their existing separate sites for modernisation.”
But county councillor Alan Mosley, who proposed a motion calling for Shropshire County Council to support co-location, said it should not be the end for the proposals.
He said: “Obviously one would expect there will be an appeal and obviously the borough officers recommended approval of the scheme and, in a report many of the objections were contradicted by officers, so one would be hopeful that an appeal would be successful.”
Peter Staples, a spokesman for the colleges, said: “We cannot really progress anything until we have the council’s decision in writing and that takes a week.”
By Rebecca Lawrence
37 Comments
4 years for a decision that could have been made in 4 minutes. Unless you happen to be a property developer of course.
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A little bit more information would help people make comments here.
Is this the final decision or are they going to appeal, etc..
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sucha shame, we were all looking forward to getting rid of the students from the town centre, as they just cause more problems than its worth with litter and lottering, even the pubs near the sixth form have had enough and are cracking down on students. the only people who benefit from the students is greggs on pride hill.
lets hope the decision is appealled and the move gets the go ahead once and fro all.
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Were you ever a student, Sarah? Or a school pupil?
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I think it’s a shame too. London Rd might not be the most ideal place if you were starting from scratch but it’s already an educational establishment. I thought that the planners recommended approval? so why was it turned down? aren’t the planning dept supposed to be independent and the experts?
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Sarah G should speak for herself and not everyone else.I work in the town centre, and I’m glad the students are staying. They benefit all the local businesses that sell food, not just Greggs, as well as stationers etc.By the way, I don’t work in either, but i do work with young people, and I don’t believe they deserve negative comments such as those.
They help to make the town centre vibrant, and the London Road campus is not for everybody.
personally I’m glad the decision has been made to keep things as they are.
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Shrewsbury has missed a golden opportunity to acquire state of the art facilities for its students of the future. The reasons given for refusal don’t hold water. The town will be less vibrant if it continues to allow investment to go elsewhere and see its young people leave the county. The travel plan is strong precisely because it is flexible, not weak as was asserted - and would be backed by a legally-binding agreement in perpetuity. And the site is already in educational use. The debate was poor, with misunderstandings and false assertions left unaddressed and uncorrected. This is a sad day for the town. Any hope of university facilities, of which this could have formed a core, are now gone. A decision rooted in prejudice and a blind antipathy to change. Those in favour, and there are many out there, should stand up and be counted.
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I think this was with regard to just Sixth Form, who are the more responsible(typically) students of several colleges from the town centre. Let’s not brand students into one category anyway.:)
‘Getting rid’ also sounds a bit unthoughtful and harsh. Take a less biased opinion:)
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Such a shame, the College is falling apart around their ears and now no new high tech place of learning for students to benefit - Numbers will dwindle and jobs will be lost.
Still, at least the local sandwich shops will continue to thrive - for now anyway.
RIP - SSFC.
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I agree that they should leave the town centre. I work within shouting distance of the college and a lot of problems are caused. Swearing, smoking cannabis, leaving rubbish, crowding people off the pavements. I agree not all of them do this but as a general observation a lot of trouble is caused.
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well im sorry but a survey of nearly 200 retailers in the town centre suggests otherwise and that people do agree with what i said.
for the future and for the town it would be great having one big site up at london road. yes i was a former pupil, 3a star passes from sixth form.
students do not in anyway make shrewsbury vibrant at all.
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Very odd comments from sarah g. Would be very interested to hear why she thinks, of all the numerous restaurants, cafe’s and shops that rely heavily on students, Greggs is the only one that is benefiting.
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I am so pleased this decision has finally been made to the end result at it is.
What concerns me greatly, is that one can not help wondering once the New Councils are in place, if this horrible matter will start all over again.
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I am really pleased with the decision. 20 years ago I got 3 grade A’s from sixth form college and going there was my best educational experience of school/university etc. The teachers were excellent and it had its own identity and culture-I am glad it is not merging
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Sarah.G
I agree with you, they do seem to spoil the day time town centre these days, they seem extremely immature to me, and there is nothing wrong with thinking and saying this.
By the way, what money do they really spend in the town for the economy compared to the overall money that is spent? 10 percent maybe?
Hardly keeps the town going!
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I’m glad this scheme was rejected. Why should the residents of London Road have to deal with all the extra traffic the colocation would generate. I’m also pleased because the principals of the 2 colleges, especially that Greg Molan always seemed so arrogant and presumed they knew best. Well, you were wrong.
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well done to all concerned, some rather silly accusations from some on here backem up or just shut up.
Well done to our mp etc etc , as for the colleges keep your own identity and use money to develope your own sites.
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If Sarah G is correct, and Shrewsbury shops do not want to have students as customers, then who will they not want next?
Perhaps single mothers? Someone who is not in a high income group?
It is attitudes such as hers, and if she is correct other shop owners in the town, that do much to kill town centre trade.
Doubtless she will be complaining in a few weeks when Christmas takings are down.
Perhaps she would like to tell us which shop she owns/is employed in, and if she doesn’t own the shop is she speaking on behalf of the owner or just stating her own prejudices.
Why should I shop in Shrewsbury amongst such prejudice?
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It’s wonderful that Sarah G managed “3a star passes from sixth form”. It’s a shame that she cannot spell or punctuate.
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I think Sarah G’s comments are horrid. I parked near 6th form yesterday to go to the dentist with my children. There were students everywhere, but i found them to be polite and most moved out of the way so i could get through with a pushchair. They must benefit the local businesses, there are enough of them. I’m sure a lot of the small coffee shops, clothes and music stores would rather have them than not.
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As ever, some posters on here don’t check their facts. AJ: a merger was never proposed - it’s a co-location. Andrew Finch: the two colleges were always intended to retain their own identities. But, hey, let’s not let a few facts get in the way of prejudice! As for personalised attacks, such as that of Jo: these are neither clever or edifying.
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Andrew Finch requires proof, well here is one for you to ponder over.
The LSC funding for the new build was based on a ‘co-location exercise’ and therefore funding ceases to become available in the capacity that it was offered originally. New funding therefore will have to be requested and provided to improve the current location or for a move to a new build. As the LSC ceases to hold funding ability from 2010 any new funding request looks set to end on deaf ears.
College numbers are now down and other local colleges are massively improving their facilities and gaining ground on student numbers – Walford and North Shropshire College anyone?
Nice new college with high tech learning facilities or one falling into disrepair with no real future?
Sandwich anyone?
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I think these high-tech claims for buildings is over-selling the idea by builders - have you ever looked beyond the fancy mirror-glass and metal cladding, its breeze-block world in them. They’re often anonymous and noisy - whereas older buildings have more peace and solidity. If you want to have huge clean cattle sheds to teach in (too hot in summer, noisy in rain, expensive to keep warm/cool) then fine. The 60s and 70s stock needs the rubbish weeding out, at least, but don’t scrap good buildings just because you can.
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can someone please explain to me the reasons behind the protest and objection, i’m not sure why anyone would not want to move to a purpose built site on the edge of town which seems perfectly adequate for the hundreds of people who already attend..
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My child attended both colleges. First to do A levels, then a Foundation year prior to Uni. Loved SSFC, hated SCAT. Why? Ease of transport, proximity to shops, loved old building, hated so called modern building stuck in residential area. What mattered most was quality of teaching - not the buildings. Now at Uni living in very tatty Grade One listed 200 year old halls and loving it. As the great universities have proven over the centuries the quality of the education has nothing to do with the age of the building - it is the people in it that matter.
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All the above arguments for keeping the sixth form college in town revolve around takings at pubs, bars and shops. It is very noticeable that Sixth Form students seem to spend most of the day hanging around town and consequently very little time at college. Forget amalgamation, just close down the sixth form college. Result - they can spend all day in the pubs/bars/cafes, profits will soar and a great deal of waste will be saved in the education budget. Anyone who wants to study can do it in the less distracting environment at SCAT.
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mixing sixth form students with shrewsbury college students would be a disaster it WOULD BE MERGER , there is a big issue here sixth form students want to be there some shrewsbury college students are there becouse they have no choice and as such will create problems at the end of the day it is part class issue.
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Thank you, Andrew Finch, for finally saying what the SOS group means, but won’t say: co-location was opposed because of prejudiced ‘class’ reasons. Of course, in reality there’s no class distinction, and students of all backgrounds choose to study at both institutions. But prejudice isn’t grounded in reality. What household in Shrewsbury requires builders, plumbers, hairdressers, accountants, lawyers, etc?!
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I was a student and could not afford to go into cafe’s and bars at lunchtime. Those who can are very lucky.
I left the sixth form and for a while worked in a cafe where students came in, spent 30p on a squash and sat smoking for three hours with the same drink…..very vibrant!
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people told me that the sixth form was closing, I didn’t realise it was only moving.
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these councillors should be ashamed they are blocking development, we need more growth in the town for the economy, its not often we get central government investment here and the buildign trade needs it especially, so lets get on and build the thing what ever the nimbys say
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From the majority of employee’s point of view here at ssfc this is a good decision. Nobody (staff or students) want this move. Has nobody heard of the saying “if it aint broke don’t fix it!?” SSFC has a fantastic reputation and great vibrancy and it would be a huge loss to waste this and jeopardise it my moving up to London Road. There are also other worries that staff have, of course the main one being their jobs! Depsite it being claimed that it would not be a merger - the support staff and administration jobs actually would have a lot of areas where jobs would be lost as admin jobs would be “shared”. Alot of staff wouldn’t be able to park at the new site also as they are within a certain mileage of the site, what about those who have children & partners to take to school/work first who wouldn’t have time to do this and then go home and get the bus??? Personally i think this is the best decision that could be made. Use the cash to update the current building and let the good work continue!!
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I am so glad that the counsellors saw sense and stopped it.
Sarah G: “yes i was a former pupil, 3a star passes from sixth form” I would seriously like to know how you managed to get A stars seeing as the A* A level grade has only been brought in for those starting their AS levels this year. Unless you were re-taking your GCSEs…
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I said ’seemed’ SHAME you didn’t get YOUR facts right!!!!
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Silly short sightedness means a generation of Shrewsbury’s young people will lose out. Shrubbery’s inward looking nature means it loses out on one of the last chances for major investment from the LSC before it is abolished. It means losing out on the foundation for Higher Education provision and all the economic benefits that that would have brought.
Shrubbery continues to be increasingly a backwater bemoaing its position, whilst other urban centres create the future and investment. This is no way to halt young people leaving the county.
Populist MP and councillors paid little attention to facts and relied on sentiment, with misunderstandings and false assertions left unaddressed and uncorrected. This is a sad day for the town. To quote from above “a decision rooted in prejudice and a blind antipathy to change.”
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Rather than using the £60,000 grand to effectively merger the collages that money can now be split up into £30,000 for each collage to use to update and build more facility’s and equipment, much better use of the money. Also SarahG 3 A* really? at sixth form? sure…
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london road college - i went there for two years and learned nothing. lecturers were rude and patronising not to say ignorant. i now have three diplomas and two degrees, four academic books in print and a varied career behind me. demolish!
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