A UNANIMOUS decision by Tory councillors will see Fenland District Council invest �1.5 million into the modernisation of the College of West Anglia campus in Wisbech.

Councillors took the decision at a private meeting last night and it will now go before Cabinet next Thursday to be officially rubber stamped. The council controls 38 of the 40 seats on Fenland Council.

Council Leader Alan Melton announced the decision today and promised the money would boost prospects for Fenland youngsters.

He said the money would help COWA “facilitate the development of skills and further education in Fenland at the Ramnoth Road campus in Wisbech.”

The money was originally earmarked by Fenland Council to help fund a new campus for the college in March but when that scheme fell through, the college pleaded for the money to go to Wisbech.

Cllr Melton said: “We are all bitterly disappointed that the �70 million scheme to development a new college at March was scrapped by the last government.

“However, we shall be working closely with our partners: Cambridgeshire County Council, COWA and other potential funders.

“Our commitment of �1.5 million is a significant amount from our capital reserves. “Fenland District Council has a long standing policy of supporting skills development, and we see this as a show of our continuing support for this policy”.

Plans for the March campus were aborted after the Learning and Skills Council, who had supported the college in their application, realised it had insufficient reserves to fund the large number of schemes it wanted to build.

It will be the second time in recent years Fenland Council has allocated money for education after it agreed to spend �400,000 on a new community hall within the Thomas Clarkson Community College in Wisbech, currently undergoing a massive multi million pounds revamp as part of a �25 million Building Schools for the Future initiative.