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As far as the East Berkshire College development plan is concerned people might want to know how a College set up to serve the community is hell bent on ignoring it and knocking down a historic part of Windsor
The story starts under the Major Government
In order weaken Local Education Authorities all Colleges were removed from local control.
There was an argument in the case of the former Polytechnics, redesignated self governing Universities because most were national, even international institutions financed by a complex pooling system where LEAs which did not have a Poly paid those who did.
But local techs, Adult and Further Education Colleges, the non-degree sector, were also removed from local control. They are now corporations, governed by unaccountable, self-appointing boards of governors.
The sector has been beset by scandal from the start. The first Chairman of the College Employers Forum resigned having been caught selling the database to a private health care company. There have been fraudulent claims, some still under police investigation for franchised courses where fees for non-existent students were claimed.
In one case a College claimed fees for students on a Nursery Nurses Course when the names on the list were children in the College crche.
One favourite was the Principal and his mistress, the Personnel Manager, who spent their whole time doing up a pub they had taken over.
College Principals have been suspended without any reason given to the local community. Imagine if a school head was suspended for six months, returned and resigned two months later. Parents and taxpayers would be told why. It happened here in Windsor this year and no local newspaper has been able to give the reason.
The College has, since it was taken out of the hands of local democratic control and put in the hands of an unelected, self-appointing quango, concentrated more on property development than education. It inherited public property in Windsor, the former Adult Education Centre in Clewer Hill Road, which it had demolished for housing. It built on former public land in Langley for housing. It is trying to do the same on its Maidenhead site.
There is nothing wrong with the sensible sale of public land and the diversion of resources into education. That is what has happened with the redevelopment of the former Trevellyan site in Imperial Road.
But.
The College has entered into a partnership with a property developer to develop public property in St Leonard's Road Windsor. It inherited the former library, the former register of Births Marriages and Deaths building among other properties.
It has allowed these to rot. It did open a computer cafe in St Leonard's Road but this too has been boarded up and let become derelict.
The College itself received an appalling Education Inspectors Report this year.
As stated the previous Principal was suspended for six months, returned and resigned a few months later without any reason given to the public though this is a public institution. Imagine if that had happened in the case of the head of a Windsor school. Would you not have reported it? Yet this was the Principal of a Windsor College.
It happened at a college, which used to be under local democratic co
There is a Liberal Councillor sitting as Chair of the Governors. But he does not speak for Windsor but a faceless Corporation
The answer is to bring the college back under elected control
Dave Nicholson
www.windsorsoup.co.uk

So the planning inspector came up from Bristol, saw the pile of dereliction that is the East Berkshire College section of the otherwise beautiful St Leonard's Road and gave permission for its destruction.
Not surprising. If I were an outsider or newcomer to Windsor I would have the same reaction. And the fact that traders in the street welcome the decision is not surprising either. If there is a pile of rotting fish in the street our first reaction is to want it moved. But who put it there and who allowed it to happen is also important and should not be ignored.
Until 1993 East Berks College was under the control of the elected Berkshire County Council. Why Berkshire no longer has a County Council but Buckinghamshire has is another story. A story written by a Mr Gerry Mander.
But eleven years ago the college passed from local democratic control to becomewhat is technically called a Company Limited by Guarantee. It is legally a charity. We see the results of its charitable work in St Leonard's Road today.
The important thing to remember is that the whole site still is public property despite the fact that the college treats it as if it were private. However, how the Governing body is appointed is a mystery and to whom they are accountable an enigma.
It is surprising that none of this anonymous bunch has come forward in the press to defend their stewardship of this public site.
One of the buildings it inherited from Berkshirewas the former library. Now most of us might think that a College might find a use for a library. We might think that the governors would say "Thank you, we will fill it full of books,"because that is the job of a college. Not rent it out to a shop selling beds, however excellentthe Sofa Bedshop was, andlaterwe will leave it to rot so we can knock it down.
The Governing body also inherited offices. Most of us might think a college might be able to use offices as offices or tutorial rooms. But the imagination of the governors did not run to this. Let it rot.
So it is not being a bad loser to say that it is not to late to save the street despite the Inspectors decision. What it requires is localdemand from the publicthat thisanonymous bunch of Governors, who have treated public property so badly, should resign before demolition starts and hand overto a newgroup interested in the educational and architectural integrity of Windsor and who would use the public property they are entrusted with properly.
This group could conserve the buildings and use them for the purpose they should have been used for over the past ten years. Education. Perhaps these shy"governors"would like to reply through your columns...