THE principal of the former Hill college in Abergavenny defended Coleg Gwent’s decision to reject a bid to buy the site and turn it into a ballet school.

Howard Burton said that a bid by Dr Olinga Ta’eed, chairman of the board of trustees at Mulberry House, which runs a residential environmental study centre in Abergavenny, was received in July, but fell short of the price being asked for the site.

"The decision to close The Hill on 31 August was a hard and regrettable one," said Mr Burton.

"We had to make reductions across our six sites in a bid to save £3.5million.

"I took Dr Ta’eed’s bid to the governors but it was considerably less than our own independent valuation on the site and so therefore we couldn’t accept it."

Mr Burton said figures discussed are commerically sensitive and is unable to disclose the asking price.

"The proposal was imaginative and we want to endorse anything that aims to increase the choice of education in Gwent.

"We are still open to offers and have asked Dr Ta’eed if he is interested in increasing the offer.

"We are a publicly-funded body and have to maximise our capital receipt from the sale. Any money we get back will be reinvested back into the college."

Since closing, the former college has been secured and contractors are maintaining the 21- acre site, which includes the Victorian walled garden.

Coleg Gwent is now in the process of surveying the buildings as part of its disposal strategy.

In February Coleg Gwent announced proposals to close The Hill education and conference facility, cut 19 courses and 74 jobs across its six sites in a bid to save £3.5million.

Monmouthshire council agreed to lift a covenant restricting The Hill to educational use until 2016 in exchange for land at Coleg Gwent’s Rhadyr campus in Usk.

This means the college could not sell the building to developers interested in using the site for other uses.