Gainsborough MP Sir Edward Leigh has written to the Minister of State for Universities seeking to secure the future of Riseholme College, which says it is being forced to move by Lincoln University.

“Local farmers are very concerned that future generations may be denied access to the valuable land-based education Riseholme currently provides,” Sir Edward said on Wednesday, 5th November. “Just today an NFU delegation from the constituency came to Westminster and raised the subject.”

Riseholme College, part of Bishop Burton College, took over land-based further education on the site from the University of Lincoln in 2012, now says it is being forced by the University to vacate Riseholme. The College has already begun work on a smaller replacement campus at the Lincolnshire Showground.

“The College is committed to staying in Lincolnshire,” said Jeanette Dawson, Principal of Bishop Burton College. “In the months following the transfer, the College tried to secure longer term rights to stay at Riseholme,” Dawson added. “In return the University made clear in 2013 that the College must fully vacate the site by 2020 and that there is no hope of its leases being renewed or of any land being transferred to the College.”

Sir Edward Leigh, in his letter to universities minister Greg Clark, urged him to intervene to bring about a mutually acceptable solution. “It is vital for the future of agriculture in Lincolnshire that the College be allowed to continue,” the MP wrote.