College may be sold off (From Free Press Series)

College may be sold off

IT HAS just had £5 million invested in new buildings, but Pontypool College could be sold off if a radical shake-up goes ahead.

Coleg Gwent bosses settled on a 'preferred option' to move the Blaendare Road campus to another Torfaen location.

The move comes as part of a multi-million pound scheme to transform Coleg Gwent's six campuses before 2015.

Principal and Chief Executive of Coleg Gwent, Howard Burton said: "Our preferred option for Pontypool is to build a new Campus on a different site in Torfaen to better serve the needs of the local community, and this would inevitably mean that land at the current site would be sold."

The college's Estates Strategy will invest a total of around £110 million in its buildings, with the aim of improving facilities for staff and students. Funding for the scheme would come partly from selling off land and buildings that are not being used. Disposing of under-used land would also slash Coleg Gwent's maintenance bills, which are set to top £42 million in the next decade.

The loss of Pontypool campus would be a blow to north Torfaen, according to local councillor Neil Waite.

He said: "The information I have got is that it nothing is going to happen for the next ten years, but if they did decide to take the college out of the area it would be another nail in the coffin for north Torfaen. Locally it has been a good employer. I would not want to see it go.

"After investing so much money I think it would be a waste of resources. "They are just about to open a new building this month and at the same time thinking about relocating. It is a bit confusing," he added.

Mr Burton explained that Pontypool would be one of the last campuses to be affected by the Estates Strategy.

He said: "This means that our students will have plenty of use out of our new Learning Centre and Construction Centre facilities before any changes are made.

"The newness of these developments is one of the factors in deciding to leave the Pontypool Campus until the end of the strategy.

"However, we also have a Plan B for the Pontypool Campus in case that preferred option cannot go ahead, and that alternative would involve building a new Campus on the site of the existing one," he added.

Coleg Gwent stakeholders were due to discuss an external report by educational consultants TRIBAL yesterday.

Information in that report will be critical to any decision made on the future of the Pontypool campus.