The Vice Chancellor of the University of Northampton, Professor Nick Petford, kindly invited me to have a look around the building site of their new Waterside Campus recently. It is a huge project of work well in progress at the moment and due for completion by September 2018, when it will be a state of the art new campus with excellent facilities.
I am delighted with the investment into building this new campus – it will bring fantastic opportunities not just for the University and its students, but also for the town in general. It is estimated that it will bring a local economic boost of £270 million – which will simultaneously benefit the town and the students as more jobs will hopefully encourage more students to stay in Northampton post-graduation and drive up the economy as a result.
A modern new campus will enhance the reputation of the University and the town. This campus will also bring the University closer to the town’s centre which will bring added benefits to the students, such as greater accessibility to the town’s amenities, and hopefully it will encourage the University to develop closer relationships with local employers.
The current site of the University in Boughton Green Road, once vacated, will be a large site for the development of a substantial number of new houses, built on brown field sites and developing much needed new housing.
I hope to re-visit the campus site in another six months to check on the progress of building work there.