I've recently received the following letter from Marple Sixth Form College Principal Jenny Singleton. I'm pleased to see the college declare their commitment to the local community and that the development of new plans for Buxton Lane will include full consultation with the community too. Hopefully this fresh, open approach is the beginning of a much better relationship between the college and the local community:
Mr Mark Whittaker, The Marple Website, 17 December 2014.
Dear Mr Whittaker,
We know that you hold an important interest in Marple Sixth Form College so we are writing to you today to inform you that we have now exchanged contracts with Morris Homes for the sale of our land on Hibbert Lane. Proceeds from the sale will allow the college to go ahead with the proposed multi-million pound investment in new and refurbished facilities on our Buxton Lane campus in Marple.
Initially this investment will see the development of a brand new sports hall complex which will make a valuable contribution to the success of our future sportsmen and sportswomen whilst they study and train at the college. These facilities will also be available to the community during the evenings and at weekends.
The college is now preparing planning applications for further development of the Buxton Lane site. This process will include full consultation with the community. The proposals will seek to begin the process of transferring all teaching provision to Buxton Lane. This will see the addition of a new teaching block which will accommodate Economics and Business Studies and incorporate a brand new Creative Media suite. We are also placing a special emphasis on developing top class science facilities to further improve our provision for our future scientists.
This will be followed by the refurbishment of the current multi-story teaching block into a modern high tech teaching and learning centre for Maths, English, Art & Design and Psychology, as well as foreign languages, Geology, Geography and other humanities subjects.
Alongside these exciting plans will be the development of a brand new Learning & Resource Centre and an extended and refurbished refectory. This work will be carried out in stages so as not to disrupt the education of current students and is expected to be completed by the summer of 2016.
This new investment confirms Marple Sixth Form College's long term commitment to the local community. We have been at the heart of the community in Marple since 1931 and this commitment remains.
If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me. Yours sincerely,
Jenny Singleton, Principal
