About 100 parents, students and staff attended a meeting at the college's Inveresk campus and spoke for more than two hours about the future of the school.

The Catholic Education Office appointed the board but then pulled out of its agreement to take over the college.

That board remains in place and parents and students were last night asking why their future was in the hands of a group that had already decided not to continue running the trade school.

Students yesterday spent time gathering 700 signatures to a petition to keep the college open, while a Facebook group - Save Our ATC - has also been set up.

A number of speakers addressed the meeting, including ATC Northern Tasmania chief executive Nigel Hill, who said a business plan had been put together that he believed would have made the college a viable business.

"The college would never pay for itself while it is restricted to school activities," he said.

Mr Hill said the college had put in bids for a number of jobs and had won several, bringing in another revenue stream that he believed could have helped it survive.

He said running trade schools was much more expensive than running other schools due to the type of work done and the equipment needed.

Mr Hill also confirmed that representatives of the Tasmanian Skills Institute had examined the Burnie college site in preparation for taking it over next year.

Brad Garwood, 17, spoke on behalf of the students and said they were disappointed at how the decision to close the college had been handled.

Mark Kenzie spoke for the staff and said they believed it was worth keeping the ATC open.

"The staff here are committed. They would be committed for 2010 if the Government was prepared to change their minds," he said.