Petition launched to fight North Shropshire College campus closure plan
Students at a college campus threatened by closure have launched a petition to try and save it.
North Shropshire College is considering closing its campuses in Wem, Shipley and Tenbury Wells and has launched a consultation over the proposals.
Students at its Shipley campus have created a petition to fight the potential closure and it has already been signed by about 200 supporters.
The online petition says: "All of us at Shipley college located on the Wyevale Garden Centre car park at Shipley are like a big family.
"Many of the students at Shipley would struggle to adjust to moving to a much bigger college, Walford, for several reasons: An extra two hours would be spent travelling back and forth from home to college and many of the students cannot afford the travel costs.
"Shipley campus is a small, nurturing college that caters for everyone's individual needs.
"Some of us would not be in further education if it wasn't for this college.
"For many of us this has been the best years of our education as we struggled in our school environment."
One supporter who signed the petition wrote: "This is tragically typical of this country. Closing down an asset so important to the local community is such a shame.
"NSC Shipley is a very modern college offering the local community a well equipped and well staffed friendly environment for all students of all abilities to prosper and achieve. Please stop this closure."
The college's interim principal Ian Peake said the centres had low numbers and efforts were being made to ensure affected students continued their education.
Courses would be focused at the Oswestry and Walford, near Baschurch, sites instead.
The college site in Bridgnorth Road, Shipley, specialises in animal care.
Maths, English and IT courses are offered at the site in High Street, Wem, and the Tenbury Wells site specialises in engineering.
Mr Peake said the proposed change would enable the college to focus its investments at its two main campuses, at Oswestry and Walford, and improve its financial position by closing uneconomic centres that provide few courses for very small numbers of students.
He said transport would be laid on to get students to the consolidated centres.
In December the college agreed to seek a merger with Herefordshire and Ludlow College to “maximise opportunities of being a major regional educational provider”.
To sign the petition visit thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/236/222/081/save-shipley-college-now/?taf_id=56945620
