Before it became a college the 300 acre Barony estate in Dumfries and Galloway had a varied existence. It was an elegant home, a home for the elderly, a wartime army training camp and, up until 1947, a prisoner of war camp. In 1949 Dumfries County Council Education Department purchased the estate with the purpose of turning it into an agricultural school. The Barony Farm School opened in 1953, with a class 46 boys of 14 to 15 years of age.
Day release classes in general agriculture and agricultural engineering began 1962, and ten years later the school became the Barony Agricultural College. The 70s and 80s saw the range of courses on offer expand to include National Certificates in agriculture, fish farming, forestry, countryside rangers, horticulture, animal care, veterinary nursing and equine studies. By this time most students at the college were studying full-time.
A new teaching block complete with a large sports hall, a multigym and a bar was opened in 1992. The new millennium brought massive investment in Animal Care and Veterinary Nursing, an Equine Unit and a Forestry Technology Centre. The Dairy Technology Centre was opened in 2006, complete with a robotic milking system.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) is a higher education institution that combines education, consulting and research in Scotland. It was founded in October 2012 through a merger of Barony College, Elmwood College, Oatridge College and the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).
The Barony campus has come under threat of closure and relocated to the Crichton campus in Dumfries by its new owners SRUC, the ‘save the Barony’ facebook page was set up for students who were concerned over the future of rural education in the Dumfries and Galloway area and an online petition was created to send a strong signal to SRUC that their plans are being strongly opposed.
MSP Joan McAlpine has already raised concerns about the proposed relocation and the decisions made by Janet Swadling and her senior managers.
‘Save the Barony’ have set up a meeting with Joan McAlpine to find a way to move forward and obtain the answers to many questions that are causing concern.
The main concern is there has been a lack of clarity and vision with no comunication from executive management for what a potential move to the Crichton site would actually entail, this is causing speculation amongst local community and industry, this will then have an impact on their confidence to send their children or recommend the Barony as a place to advance their education.
People need to know if the same courses will still be available, some Barony assets have already been sold off, the Carse of Ae, the fish farm amongst others. Unique courses have already been slashed such as Employment Evaluation (course for students with learning difficulties), Equine and Horticulture. The Forestry is a big concern as SW is the biggest producer of timber in UK and the Barony is the only college to offer engineering courses in timber machinery. The wildlife hospital is also under threat as the hospital is run by volunteers and students play a big part in helping care for the animals which is good as they get hands on experience with the wildlife, the students and wildlife work well together but if the Barony moves it would be difficult to get the number of volunteers needed to run the hospital.
We have a very successful college in perfect surroundings with a good support system in place, has the option ever been looked into phased investment of the present campus while still delivering the courses, which would cause less upheaval and surely less money which is far better in the present economic climate? There has been nothing said about how much it would cost to relocate to the Crichton campus and if this risk will be taken with tax payers money? We would like to give everyone a voice, to fight for our future generations that will lose the Barony experience and if this move goes ahead, they will just become numbers and statistics.
We are holding a public meeting on Thursday 18th February @ 7pm, Locharbriggs village hall, come and join us!
The links to join us on our Facebook page and sign the petition are bellow
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551626515159567/
https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-the-barony-college/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=button
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One partner. No competitors. Full visibility across the region.
One partner. No competitors. Full visibility across the region.
