College Displays Campus Redevelopment Plans At City Hall - 16-20th March

The first model of the new look City College Norwich campus will today (Monday 16 March 2009) go on public display at City Hall in Norwich.

The College has commissioned a scale model of how its campus will look at the end of the first phase of the proposed redevelopment of the Ipswich Road site. The College will be displaying this along with designs for the new campus at a week long exhibition at Norwich City Hall starting today and running until Friday 20th March 2009.

At the exhibition there will be an opportunity for members of the public to comment on the redevelopment designs and any other issues of concern at the City Hall exhibition. The exhibition is part of the College’s ongoing commitment to consulting the local community at every step of the redevelopment of its campus.

Subject to a successful outcome to the College’s application to the government for funding and the granting of detailed planning permission, the College hopes to begin work on the north and south ends of the campus early in 2010.

Despite press reports of problems with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC)
fund for college redevelopments, the College remains confident that plans for the campus will go ahead.

College Principal Dick Palmer said:

"The current economic situation underlines the importance of developing first-class facilities to enable City College Norwich to help local people gain the skills they need to remain in work or return to the workforce, while continuing the vital task of equipping Norfolk's young people with the skills they need to
go on to university or into work.

"The Prime Minister has said that he wants to see major capital projects, particularly in education, proceed as fast as possible - not just to create fantastic places for students to learn, but also for the boost to local construction and the creation of other jobs that major public investment such as this brings.

"We are therefore confident that we have put a compelling case for funding to the Learning and Skills Council and now await their green light so that we can get on with creating a state-of-the-art campus in which students can be motivated and inspired for decades to come.

“The exhibition we are holding at City Hall this week is all part of the College’s commitment to engaging with students, staff, local residents, employers and the wider community as we continue to develop these exciting and vital plans for the future of the College”.