The future of one of the UK’s best sixth form colleges, a centre of excellence in North Norfolk, is under threat.
Paston College has warned that a multi million pound grant is in jeopardy as it moves to defend the planned relocation of the College. “The teenagers of North Norfolk deserve the best education they can get – and currently Paston is delivering it,” says Peter Mayne, Principal of the College.
“But our current buildings, although many are beautiful, simply cannot deliver a modern, high achieving education. We have to move. And unless the right decisions are made quickly, we will lose out on the government-funded £23million grant that will enable the move.
“Make no mistake, Paston is under threat. We have no choice in the matter – we need new educational buildings, or the College will decline. The question is simple: does North Walsham want Paston to survive?”
Residents in Station Road, where Paston hopes to build the new college, are fighting the plans, citing loss of privacy, increased traffic and parking issues. Meanwhile the College believes the huge potential benefits of the move for North Walsham and north Norfolk are being ignored.
“We want to calm residents’ fears,” says Mayne. “We’re putting together a document giving detailed answers to the questions they have raised – we hope they’ll read it and respond.”
- Privacy: Peter Mayne points out that the new college will be no nearer than 140 feet from any house on Station Road. “That’s a very significant distance – roughly equivalent to half a football pitch. Similar issues were raised in connection with the nearby Victory Pool and they proved groundless.”
- Traffic: Paston is working with North Norfolk Council Highways Department. So far, surveys suggest that the amount of traffic that the College would bring will not cause any major issues – and Paston won’t move without an ‘all-clear’ from the Highways Department. In addition, the College is working on a Green Transport initiative that will encourage students and staff to use the railway and cycle routes. “Currently about 92% of pupils and 33% of staff don’t use a car to come to College. Our Green Transport objective is to raise those figures further over the first five years of the new College. Our location close to the railway station is a significant factor in this,” says Mayne.
- Parking: the new site has spaces for 140 cars and so there should be no impact on Station Road and the surrounds.
“The decision to leave the old buildings was a very, very difficult one,” says Mayne. “But the old buildings simply cannot deliver the kind of education our young people need. If we stay the College will suffer, no question. The 2008 Ofsted inspection confirms the gravity of the issue.”
The report says, on page 26, ‘The college location, in historic buildings on a split site, places constraints on achieving an outstanding environment for teaching and learning.’
“But even back in the 1950s inspectors were commenting on the shortcomings of the buildings in terms of providing a ‘modern education’!” he adds.
“The £23million grant is a huge opportunity not only for Paston but also for North Walsham and north Norfolk. It will give our community the college our future students deserve. It will also be the biggest investment in North Walsham since the coming of the railway in the nineteenth century, bringing jobs and helping revitalise our economy during the recession.
“But the grant is only available if we move for educational new builds, such as Station Road. It’s not available for rebuilding or refurbishment.
“If we’re not careful, it will be lost.”
Even if the grant were available for refurbishment, the Lawns site is not big enough for the new college. Peter Mayne explains: “The Station Road site has around six acres, which is enough to build a sustainable college that will continue to be a centre of excellence. The Lawn site is well under three acres – it’s simply not big enough.”
New College Offers Huge Benefits for North Norfolk
There are additional benefits alongside the significant boost the £23million investment will bring. Being larger the new college will also bring more jobs and more students, whose extra spending power will also help boost the economy. Over half of the current 120 staff live in North Walsham and the College spends £100,000 per year with local businesses – and the policy to source locally will continue.
Mayne believes fears that moving the college away from the centre of town will hurt traders are overblown. “In fact, the new college is only about 150 yards by foot from the Lawn Site,” he says. “That really shouldn’t make much difference.
“As well as benefitting the economy, the new College will offer new facilities for the local population to enjoy – such as a sports hall and floodlit football pitch.”
As for the old buildings, Paston believes they have the potential to further revitalise the town centre. “We have had long discussions with planners and the Paston Foundation, who own the Griffons site. There is very exciting potential for redevelopment – the Griffons site especially could be turned into a beautiful residential area or an exciting community project. The Lawns site has potential for a variety of redevelopments – residential, leisure and retail.”
Paston has commissioned feasibility studies for both sites and residents are welcome to visit the College to view them.
Of course Paston’s main concern is to provide the best possible education for its students. “The new College will offer more courses, both academic and vocational – including the new 14 to 19 Diplomas – which will give our young adults extra opportunities as well as providing our economy with a more highly skilled workforce,” says Peter Mayne.
“Paston is one of the highest achieving sixth forms in the whole of the UK – in the top 10%. It is a centre of excellence. One thing that everyone agrees on is that Paston must be supported. The wonderful work being done here by teaching staff must continue and Paston must remain at the heart of our community.
“And Paston’s tradition of teaching excellence must be protected for future generations of students.”