Young People at heart of Waste of Space Campaign
A regional fundraising campaign to save a vital community, education and business resource for future generations has been launched in Exmouth.
Waste of Space is urging people to support efforts to save the former Rolle College for the future of young people’s education in Devon, and to transform the facility into the Rolle Centre ¬– a thriving business, education and community resource for East Devon.
The launch was held at the former Rolle College, which provided education in Devon for over 100 years, was closed by owner Plymouth University in 2008 and has now been put up for sale, with plans submitted to East Devon District Council to build over 120 homes on the site, on Douglas Avenue in Exmouth.
A Waste of Space short film and visual imagery starring local actors including young people from Exmouth was unveiled at Tuesday’s launch. The theme reveals that it is not East Devon’s young people that are a ‘waste of space’, but the site itself, with facilities including a fully-equipped lecture theatre, large performance space, and range of seminar rooms all kept shut and unused for eight years.
Waste of Space has been created by REL (Rolle Exmouth Limited), a community benefit society set up to help secure the site for education, business and community benefits for East Devon. At the heart of the campaign is a plea to support those efforts through a national community share issue, volunteering, donations and other pledges of support.
Deborah Hallett, REL chairman said: “It is a tragedy that the site has lain empty for so long. The young people of East Devon deserve more. We’ve had a great response to the Waste of Space campaign. We hope people will be inspired to get involved, be that by pledging support, buying community shares, becoming a volunteer, or telling us how they think the site should be developed.”
Around 100 people attended Tuesday’s launch of Waste of Space, including businessmen and women, councillors, young people and community groups supporting efforts to create the new Rolle Centre.
Finn Morley-Welch, from Exmouth, plays the main character in the short film, while Jack Greenaway, Jess Greenaway and Montgomery O’Sullivan star in the Waste of Space photos that form part of the campaign.
Finn, an actor who has lived in Exmouth for 14 years, said: " I grew up just round the corner from the Rolle College site, so I have seen it go from a facility that was being used by Plymouth University to a mostly derelict space.
“It was great to work with a team on the film shoot who cared about the future of the centre, but it was also extremely surreal, seeing the once fully functional site completely empty. It's sad to see the Rolle College not being used. It’s such a waste of an extremely valuable resource for the community. To have something local for further education is a fantastic thing, especially as most young people don't have the money to afford to travel further away from home to study."
Plymouth University has given REL a temporary licence to use the site’s Owen Building, and pledged that it can be used for community use when the site is sold. REL is striving to secure the Owen Building and more of the site, and is in discussions with the university about becoming the preferred community partner.
East Devon District Councillor Jill Elson, Chairman of Governors at Exmouth Community College, said: “Since Rolle College was closed in 2008, there has been a loss of £5m a year to Exmouth’s economy. Exmouth and the surrounding area also lost a facility that brought a wonderful vibrancy to the town. The fact that the site with superb facilities - a gymnasium, meeting rooms, performance theatre and lecture theatre - has remained unused and unavailable to the community for seven years is unacceptable.
“As this is a regional issue I hope Plymouth University will work closely with the local community to ensure there is true lasting legacy that creates jobs, improves the cultural and community offer, whilst enhancing training and career opportunities for our brilliant and ambitious young people. We need a considered debate to take a longer-term perspective and truly invest in our young people. I sincerely hope Plymouth University will play an active part in the Devon and Somerset Local Enterprise Partnership, with the possibility of services being devolved to them, especially in skills training, as in their application to Government.”
The Waste of Space campaign will run across social media and print publications over the coming months. To watch the film go to http://bit.ly/WasteofSpace
People can back the campaign at www.rollecentre.org and get involved on Twitter @RolleCentre #WasteofSpace and www.facebook.com/RolleCentreExmouth
The intention is for money raised through the community share issue to be used to buy and refurbish the Owen Building, partly by using the shares as matched funding to obtain grants. Money raised will also support the first two years of trading and the promotion of further fundraising to secure additional areas of the site and extensions to the Owen Building facilities.
A business survey is also underway to feed into detailed plans for developing the facility as a key business and enterprise hub.
