The Cannock Chase MP, who is a strong advocate of technical and vocational education, including apprenticeships, expressed her disappointment at the closure of South Staffordshire College's Cannock campus during a debate in Parliament. She also called for consideration to be given to the role the site can play in the regeneration of Cannock town centre.
With students travelling to other colleges across Staffordshire and the Black Country, and local schools and sixth form colleges offering many of the same courses, the college was seeing a year on year fall in student numbers at the Cannock campus. This was despite a multi-million pound revamp in 2013. The fall in student numbers led to the Board of South Staffordshire College making the decision to close the campus.
Amanda Milling said: “Once the Cannock Chase Mining and Technical College, the college has been at the heart of Cannock town centre and served many generations. Despite the millions of pounds spent on a revamp in 2013 which meant that it was one of the best sites in the country, with state-of-the-art technology, year-on-year falls in student numbers have meant that the College's board made the decision to shut the site. This is an incredibly disappointing situation we find ourselves in.”
Amanda Milling has also called on South Staffordshire College to look at ways of maintaining a presence in the town centre as plans for the campus are developed, adding: “Given the level of investment in the campus, it is essential that any future plans make the very most of the excellent digital facilities there, and, given its position in the heart of Cannock, the plans for the site need to be part of a wider regeneration plan for the town centre. This is something I have long spoken of and regenerating our town centres needs to be a top priority for all local authorities.”
The Cannock Chase MP is calling on local authorities and South Staffordshire College to work with the Local Enterprise Partnerships to ensure the site has a future and can contribute to the wider regeneration of Cannock town centre.
She added: "We need to ensure each of the town centres across Cannock Chase can thrive. We need to make sure the redevelopment of the Rugeley B power station site, the Mill Green designer outlet village development and future uses of the college campus all feed into the regeneration of our towns, and that our high streets attract new investment and support successful local businesses.”