THE final hurdle to the 'marriage' between two of Cornwall's leading colleges has been cleared - leaving the way open for a merger which will create one of the biggest colleges in the country - to go ahead. And that includes Saltash College

The merger between Cornwall and St Austell Colleges means that Saltash College, part of St Austell College, will become part of the 'super college' from August 1, the final legal requirements having been cleared.

These necessitated the secretary of state for education signing a statutory instrument, which had to remain in parliament for 21 days before becoming law.

In merging the college to create one of the major colleges in the country the new structure will be best placed to undertake ambitious big projects which would not have been feasible for either independently.

A spokesman for Saltash College said this is a huge boost for Cornwall, enabling the new college to bring the maximum benefit into the county through its involvement with plans for the Combined Universities in Cornwall, and by optimising take up of Objective One funding.

Plans in development include a new outreach centre in North Cornwall, extension of the successful 'Learning Shops', and a new £4 million engineering centre.

Also involved in the merger are Duchy College at Stoke Climsland and the College of Falmouth.

Total courses offered at the merged colleges will be 2,000 with 40,000 students and a turnover of £45 million. The merged college will also be one of the largest employers in Cornwall.

Despite the move Saltash College will retain its well-established identity. The decision was reached after research proved all the colleges included in the operation have strong recognition and loyalty amongst their communities.

Head of Saltash college, Steve Warnes, said: 'We have a great base to build on.

'Our relationship with the business community in Cornwall and Plymouth is already a good one, but we want to strengthen it yet further and see our merged status as powerfully positioning us to give improved support for a huge diversity of business training and development needs across the area.'

He added: 'There will be no redundancies as a result of this merger, through some re-structuring will be inevitable for our staff who have been very patient through the long process involved in getting approval for our merger. The merger is good news and very exciting; it gives us a chance to really put Saltash College, a comparatively young college, on the map and to be really ambitious in our plans.'

Confirmation of appr-oval for the merger was officially announced at a meeting of the shadow board last week. From August l the colleges will announce a new board.

Dr Alan Stanhope, who will become CEO/principal of the newly merged colleges, said: 'This merger is all about getting the colleges into communities - we want to widen yet further, access and participation in our courses.

'I firmly believe that education, especially with regard to new and improved skills, is one of the most essential ingredients in achieving the economic regeneration of Cornwall.'