Auchincruive land up for sale as maintenance costs hit SRUC

Part of the SRUC’S Auchincruive site in Ayrshire is up for sale once again after technical challenges identified at the site stymied plans for community ownership or its transfer to South Ayrshire Council.

Previously offered for sale in 2017 before being withdrawn, the college said that the annual maintenance costs of £685,000 incurred at the site was “stifling fresh investment in teaching and research in the south and west of Scotland”, while the level of investment required to bring the campus up to modern standards made this option non-viable.

Under the organisation’s current £35 million development plan for the south and west of the country, both research and teaching would be refocused at a new campus at the Barony college near Dumfries.

The SRUC’S principal and chief executive, Wayne Powell, said that while the status quo at the site was not financially feasible for the organisation, it waspursuingpartnerships with local colleges and other stakeholders to deliver rural skills training in Ayrshire.

“We have taken expert legal advice on the terms of the bequest from the Hannah Family and all assets from the sale will be reinvested in educational activities in the South and West of Scotland,” added Powell.

“This proposal is therefore entirely in accordance with the historic origins of the original bequest of the estate from the Hannah family in the 1920s.”

He clarified that the John F Niven building occupied by SAC Consulting, the consultancy arm of the college, and the Disease Surveillance Centre at Auchincruive were not included in the sale and would continue to be supported, providing important services for the area.