Burnley's £10m university campus taking shape

12:21pm Monday 5th May 2008

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NEW glimpses have been given of Burnley's £81million university and college campus.

The building, in Princess Way, has been under construction since the turf was cut in November.

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It is now starting to take shape with the steel shell of the building adding a new sight to Burnley's skyline.

A spokesman for Burnley College said that the construction project had so far gone well with no delays and the campus was due to open as expected by September 2009.

The new artist impressions give a look at a new bridge on the campus and inside a refectory.

The university campus section will eventually host more than 1,100 students from the University of Central Lancashire.

It will specialise in manufacturing and is being built on land formerly occupied by a council highways and depot and Burnley paper works.

Money is being provided for the landmark building by the Higher Education Funding Council.

Bosses believe that the campus will help reverse the trend of bright students leaving East Lancashire to continue their studies and never returning after finding work elsewhere.

It will form part of a larger £70 million college develop-ment.

The college side of the initiative has been backed by the Northwest Development Agency (NWDA), to the tune of £10million, with another £40million coming from the Learning and Skills Council.

A new sixth form centre, for 16 to 19-year-olds, will also be built.

An enterprise park, featuring business start-up spaces, technology units, state-of-the-art offices and housing is also schemed into the blueprints.