Scarborough Borough Council (SBC) has had it’s application to take over the running of the University of Hull’s (UoH) Filey Road campus refused by the University of Hull.
The University of Hull decided to pull out of Scarborough and move operations to the main Hull campus earlier this year. UoH have since been looking for a body to take over the running of the Filey Road campus.
SBC partnered with Coventry University College for the bidding process. The news that Hull College Group were selected as the preferred bidder has angered the leader of Scarborough Borough Council, Cllr Tom Fox.
“We are hugely disappointed by University of Hull’s decision.”
“We think the wishes of the community have been ignored and the decision does not accord with the town’s ambition for a true University of Scarborough”
The news of Fox complaining about the wishes of the community being ignored will raise more than a few eyebrows in Scarborough.
The result of the 2010 SBC Futurist Theatre consultation was that 79% of responses wanted to save the theatre, but the council ignored the wishes of the community and is busy ploughing ahead with plans to demolish the theatre. Fox is sat firmly astride his wrecking ball.
Cllr Fox further re-iterated the council’s desire to have a major hand in a second higher education establishment in the town.
“Having previously engaged heavily with the borough’s business community and received their unequivocal support for our bid, our position is that we will work with Coventry University, an award winning institution, to deliver a new University of Scarborough on another site in the town.”
It appears that Scarborough will have three Universities in the not-too-distant future. SBC, the council that has a depot to spare from the Tesco debacle, having a hand in at least two of them. Three Universities in Scarborough should be excellent news for landlords.
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The existing Filey Road UoH campus which will be run by Hull College Group.
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University Technical College (UTC) run by SBC, UoH, McCain & Unison, opening 2016.
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A University run by SBC and Coventry University College.
