Anti co-location campaigners are celebrating the decision to throw out plans to site Shrewsbury’s two post-16 colleges on one campus after four years of bitter wrangling.
The £60 million plans were rejected by councillors at a special meeting on Monday at the Music Hall despite being recommended for approval by planning officers.
College officials have called it a major setback and will now study the decision to reject the plans before deciding what action to take.
Councillors at the meeting claimed the design was of ‘insufficient quality’ for a major gateway to the town and would bring traffic chaos. Since the plans were revealed two years ago, thousands of residents, parents and pupils have signed petitions against the plans with the scheme attracting nearly 1,500 objections.
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.
Helen Johnson, spokeswoman for the SOS group, 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.” Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski, who also opposed the move, said he was absolutely delighted with the decision.
He said: “I’m now 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: “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.”
Martin Ward, principal of Shrewsbury Sixth Form College, said: “The result is a big disappointment after all the work that has gone into this project which we still feel is a good one.
“There was a clear majority of councillors opposed to the development and the colleges must now take time to review the outcome and to plan their next step.”
Greg Molan, principal of Shrewsbury College of Arts and Technology, said: “The travel plan was the councillors’ chief concern and they wanted reassurance on some points. It is unfortunate that we were unable to provide this during the hearing but this is the nature of the process.”
