West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has urged the board of Warwickshire College Group to take up a community-led bid which will preserve teaching at Malvern Hills College.

The MP was joined by a group of cross party local elected representatives writing an open letter to the board confirming that they support the covenant which prevents anyone from selling the site for purposes other than teaching.

The final decision on applying the covenant rests with Malvern Hills District Council and Harriett, the leaders of Worcestershire County Council and Malvern Hills and Malvern’s Mayor all support the proposal to retain teaching at the site on Albert Road North.

Harriett said:

“A fair bid is on the table which will help to preserve teaching and protect jobs and I’ve consistently urged the management and board of Warwickshire College Group to follow this solution which is a win for them and a win for the people of Malvern.

“I’m keen that we don’t see this historic asset sold off to property developers and I am encouraged by the fact that a covenant on the site will prevent this from happening.

“Politicians at all levels of government and all political stripes have joined together to reinforce this view and I hope that wiser heads will prevail with the Group accepting the fairly-priced bid which will allow them to withdraw from their teaching obligations in the town and allow the community to enhance the current teaching provision.

“We’ve seen community-led projects thrive at the Malvern Outdoor Centre and Malvern Cube and I am confident that this is a project that will allow much more potential for generations to come.”