In response to the letter on this page on 12/10/2007 from Kath Thomas , principle of Oldham college , " why barn owl must go " . the reason for closure seems to be 1, people signing up for catering courses across Gr Manchester have been declining in recent years! what has this got to do with the barn owl? surely the colleges with declining student numbers should be the ones to close their catering depts , 2 , the numbers of people signing up at the barn owl has been declining in recent years ! if at least 50 people signing up for their first year for each of the last 3 yrs is not enough , then how many students would it take for the course to be viable , 70 , 80 , 90 perhaps? for the last 2 yrs there has been a waiting list , so if any students didnâ€^TMt start the course or dropped out within the first 6 weeks or so , people would be offered a place/s from the waiting list . surely logic dictates that any course with a waiting list would suggest that it was OVERSUBSCRIBED , not undersubscribed. Of the 49 students who joined this year , how many potential students and /or parents turned it down because it was only for 1yr , a potential 60+ this year? again principle? also mentioned was the expense of keeping the barn owl open ? can the principle name any other course at Oldham that even comes close to making as much money as the barn owl? i firmly believe it could pay for itself even without help from excellent local businesses i.e. white hart inn , blue Tiffin , to name but a few. if as the college says , it has been trying to keep courses going up until recently , why were the tutors & technicians who lost their jobs last yr , aware of this as early as Easter? here is a brief list of some of the students achievements at the barn owl in JUST the last 3yrs . 1> students worked at the grand national at Aintree in 2005 and were given the chance to work at a major golf tourney. 2>students were involved in a rugby league evening at queen Elizabeth hall last yr , 3>students hold the world record for the highest poppadom stack , yum! , 4>a young student was entered into the young combi chef of the year award , 5>the curry chef of the year award is held at the barn owl and students are heavily involved , 6> many other competitions , awards , dinners etc are held every year , 7> 2 students at the barn owl beat 9 professional restaurants & chefs to win a channel m competition two weeks ago & with a perfect score ! , 8>several students appeared on a channel m show filmed at the barn owl only last week , 9> in the next few weeks there will be other TV interviews , as well as radio & newspaper interviews . even if the reasons the college give are true , then surely for Oldham college to give up so easily on their crown jewel , the barn owl , the envy of most educational groups , then the achievements in 3 short yrs surpasses many other colleges put together,. perhaps the principal , or college could give us some stats . ie , how many catering places were allocated to the barn owl ,at the start of each of the last 3yrs , & how many students took up the offer of these places for each of the last 3 yrs? perhaps the expense of the barn owl continuing and the money to be saved has something to do with the £13.6m Oldham council has to claw back to receive funding from the govt for keeping down council tax bills? too cynical ? when you think of the taxes on rubbish & people being thrown out of their homes and communities and family's ripped apart , not to mention the debt incurred by people who spent their whole lives trying NOT to get into debt , is it any wonder we cant believe anything Oldham council tells us ! waiting eagerly on those stats principal . one last thing , there may be many Oldham students at Hopwood hall , but I'm sure that for both convenience and prestige , there are many many many more at Oldham college, yours sincerely David Cleary ,

   Will the last person leaving oldham please turn out the light.