MP appeals for more time to be given for Melton college and theatre proposals
Interested parties in taking over Melton Theatre and the college campus should be given more time to put forward viable proposals according to Melton’s MP.
Edward Argar was responding to Loughborough College Group’s announcement on Friday that it was to sell off the Asfordby Road site following a month-long consultation exercise seeking new investors and owners.
The college group said three proposals had been submitted but none of them were financially viable or sustainable so it would be seeking a buyer for the site.
The news was greeted with dismay by many people in Melton Mowbray who want to retain the theatre as a vital community asset and the town campus as a key local educational centre.
And Mr Argar has appealed to the college group not to rush into any deal to sell up, commenting: “We all know just how important the town’s theatre is to the community, and since the Loughborough College Group launched its consultation in the autumn on the future of the Melton campus, I’ve met and spoken with many of those trying to put forward a proposal to save it, most recently at a very constructive meeting last week.
“I met Loughborough College Group’s CEO back in October about the future of the site, and in my initial formal response to their consultation called on the College Group to ensure they gave sufficient time to work up robust, practical proposals, rather than rushing to a decision. I still believe it is vital no final decision is rushed.”
The MP is particularly supportive of a proposal made by Discovery Trust to take over the campus site to set up a Post 16 special educational needs (SEND) centre, as well as making use of the theatre for SEND learning and community use. That submission was one of the three rejected by the college group.
He also says he does not believe the planned Cultural Hub at the Stockyard – a partnership between Melton Borough Council and Loughborough College Group – would not be an adequate replacement for Melton Theatre.
Mr Argar said he had written to the college group ‘expressing my support for the outline proposal by the Discovery Trust and CIC, that would see the site used to deliver post-16 SEND education, other skills and career support, save the theatre, and which would work with other interested groups to work up a robust joint proposal, and to Leicestershire County Council calling on them to commission the necessary additional SEND places’.
He added: “I fear suggestions that the Stockyard events space could replace the theatre are sadly simply not a realistic alternative for the fantastic current provision; but I believe the proposal by the Discovery Trust and other partners genuinely does offer a positive and constructive way forward.
“My call to the Loughborough College Group, whose board are the ultimate decision-makers, is to not shut the door on it, but to continue to engage with the proposal, and with the Department for Education, to get it to a point where they can accept it.”