Plans unveiled for college site's future
The speed with which the scheme has come forward prompted immediate questions about how long it had been in preparation, given that the college closure announcement came on 10th September following what was described as a decision made “only very recently” by Warwickshire College Group.
There was anger in some quarters that the announcement was made after students had already enrolled for the academic year 2015/2016, when they might have chosen another college if they’d known this one was closing.
One parent told the Herald that he felt he had been deceived.
But this week a spokeswoman for the Warwickshire College Group told the Herald: “We have been looking at options in relation to our whole estate, including the Henley-in-Arden College site, for some time.
“The final decision to close Henley at the end of the 2015/16 academic year was only made very recently and we announced this as soon as was practicably possible.”
The spokeswoman added: “We are giving a full academic year’s notice and must remember that the majority of students at Henley-in-Arden College are on one year courses and we will ensure those students who will be directly affected will not be disadvantaged by this move.
“The courses that currently run at Henley-in-Arden are being relocated to ensure progression opportunities and to ensure we can fulfil our commitment to our two-year students.”
The exhibition, held earlier this month, revealed that the Grade II-Listed building on the site would obviously be retained and converted, but the existing red brick modern classroom block would be demolished and replaced with a smaller apartment building and additional individual housing.
It was also made clear that there were no proposals to include on-site shops or hairdressers because of the location’s proximity to the town.
One man who attended the exhibition was Henley resident and retired town planner Graham Pearce.
After visiting the event, he told the Herald: “This site covers 27 acres. The real issue is the elephant in the room, which is the other 26.5 acres.
“There are expensive sports pitches with floodlighting and indoor facilities such as a gym and badminton court. A lot of money has been spent on this building.
“It is all greenbelt, of course. Will the Warwickshire College Group look after these sporting facilities, because Henley College itself won’t be supporting them? The cost will have to be borne by someone. There are a lot of ‘unknowns’ attached to the site, following the decision to close it.”
This week a spokeswoman for the planning consultants said the leisure centre on the site was being retained for the time being.
She said: “The issue with the leisure centre will be linked to the ultimate sale of the college campus, in the first instance. It is, under restricted hours, open to the public via a membership arrangement, and the college do not intend to withdraw this at the present time.”
“However, the application may require Section 106 [developers’] contributions and when the council let us know what those are we will have a better understanding of what is required to offset the impact of the proposals for the care village.”
