Land sale could bankroll college plans

An Essex college is proposing to sell part of its green belt land to help secure its long-term future in the face of falling funding.

Writtle College is trying to find alternative sources of income to avoid decline and to inject cash into renovating and replacing its old buildings.

Bosses have just completed a 20-year plan for the college's future and one of the suggestions is to sell off about 5% of surplus land at the 220-hectare site in a bid to cover the £35 million for improvements.

The college recently wrote to every member of Chelmsford Borough Council asking to discuss the “fate” of Writtle College, warning of the financial dangers it is facing.

During the past 20 years funding per student has dropped from £14,000 to £5,000 each year, while competition to attract students has greatly increased.

Although the college knows the approximate budgets it will have for the next five years there are no guarantees beyond that.

Yesterday the college's assistant principal, Dr Jamie MacAskill , acknowledged plans to build on green belt land could be seen as controversial, but said existing laws would be under review in the next 10 to 15 years.

He said the plan do develop green belt land was only one of the options being consider to raise funding.

“I want to emphasize we are very sensitive to issues around green belt and very sensitive as guardians of the countryside that we don't use it in the way a normal developer would use it.

“We see there is a real predicament here in the sense that the whole use of the countryside has to evolve away from the more classic views of it,” he said.

He said ideally the plan was to create modern eco-friendly homes able to create their own heating and re-use water.

Only 6% of the students now study agriculture and during the past five years the college has opened up new facilities, such as its world crops centre, as it diversifies to attract new students.

In his letter to the councillors Dr MacAskill said it was important the college's aims were incorporated into the council's own 20-year plan.

Date: 15th July 2006
Source: East Anglian Daily Times