LIB DEM MINISTERS VISIT UHI CAMPUS
29-Sep-2012
This Saturday, Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey MP Danny Alexander welcomed fellow Lib Dem Minister, Business Secretary, Vince Cable to Inverness. As one of the Highlands most important and ambitious projects, Mr Cable and Mr Alexander visited the UHI campus which is now under development in East Inverness.
The Lib Dem Ministers were accompanied by Lib Dem councilor Kate Steven, Project Director for Inverness Campus, Ruaraidh MacNeil, Principle of Inverness Collage, John Spencer, and Highlands and Islands Enterprise's (HIE) Alex Paterson.
In 2009 HIE committed up to £25m to develop the first phase of the Inverness Campus at Beechwood. HIE, the owner of the site, is currently developing the locations infrastructure. The £12.3m construction contract was awarded to Morgan Sindal in 2011 and work started in early 2012. Work on the site is expected to be completed by May 2013.
Independent research commissioned by HIE estimated that the Highlands would benefit economically, socially, culturally and academically from the new Campus. Once the project is completed the Campus will result in a gross value added of £38m for the region; have the potential to create up to 6000 jobs over 30 years; and start to address the long-standing issue of younger people migrating from the area.
Highland MP Danny Alexander says:
"It is exciting to see the first phase of the Inverness Campus, which will be eventually be the heart of the UHI, starting to take shape.
"This project is hugely important for the future of the Highlands. Our area is already seeing an economic benefit from the work going on here and, once the campus is complete, it will create many more jobs and help bring in outside investment for our growing industries and local research.
"At the centre of it all, the Campus will mean more opportunities for local people and give younger folk a good reason to stay in the Highlands."
Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable MP, says:
"The plans for the campus site are enormously encouraging. The work going on here highlights the need for more projects like the UHI in rural locations across the UK.
"In recent years we have seen the problems created by over centralisation of skills and industries. The Inverness Campus will give local people the chance to reach their full potential, without having to uproot, and it will allow local businesses and industries access to a highly skilled and well trained local workforce.
"I look forward to seeing what benefits the Campus will bring to the region."
ENDS
Notes for editors:
Inverness Campus
Briefing for Vince Cable visit
Introduction
Inverness Campus is one of the most important and ambitious projects to be developed in the Highlands and Islands. The Campus, located at Beechwood, east Inverness will be home to academic, research and business organisations. The site will open in summer 2013 with first occupier, Inverness College UHI, opening its doors in autumn 2015.
Background
In 2009 the Board of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) committed up to £25m to develop the first phase of Inverness Campus. The Beechwood site covers 215 acres in total. Phase 1 (89 acres) has planning permission for up to 55,000m2 of development. HIE is the owner of the site at Beechwood and is currently developing the site infrastructure. A £12.3m construction contract was awarded to Morgan Sindall in late 2011. Work on phase 1 of the development started on site in February 2012 and is expected to be complete by May 2013.
HIE's involvement in the Campus development is twofold:
- as the facilitator bringing together the various partners in the project and jointly developing a shared vision,
- as owner and developer of the site.
Inverness Campus is the single largest project that HIE has undertaken at its own hand. The rationale behind the organisation's leadership of such a large project is the wide-ranging and substantial benefits it will bring to the Highlands and Islands and Scotland. This is a project of national significance which aims to be an exemplar of collaborative working.
The benefits that will flow from the project are economic, social, cultural and academic. Independent research commissioned by HIE estimated that the Campus would result in GVA of £38m for the region and have the potential to create up to 6000 jobs over 30 years.
The co-location of academic institutions with business will lead to valuable collaboration and knowledge transfer. The proximity of key players in the local life sciences sector will allow the further development of the area's health cluster, increasing economic impact and creating high quality jobs. In January 2012 the Campus was designated as an Enterprise Area for Life Science – this brings benefits for new investors such as rates relief and streamlined planning process.
In addition to the economic benefits anticipated, the Campus will start to address a long-standing issue for the Highlands and Islands: the out-migration of young people from the area. Through the development of higher education and the increased availability of high quality jobs, the Campus will attract young people from across the country to the Highlands, and offer the opportunity to Highlanders of all ages to choose to continue their education within the area.
Campus vision
The shared objective of the partners involved in the Campus development is to create a world-class business, research and education facility that will be an exemplar for Scotland - an outstanding example of shared resource encompassing a range of learning opportunities from further and higher education through to post-graduate research and CPD. In addition to academic activity, it will be a multi-use location embracing commerce, social enterprise, sport and leisure, and cultural/community use.
The Campus has outstanding potential to:
o contribute to Scotland's outstanding research base, so the creation of knowledge and subsequent transfer and commercialisation will become increasingly important as the project progresses
o bring about a step change in terms of creating a Higher Education proposition within the Highlands and Islands that can compete on an even footing with the best available elsewhere in the UK and, indeed, globally
o be a place for: learning, collaboration, the creation and transfer of knowledge, enterprise and commercialisation, and a range of new social and sporting amenities for local people and visitors
o help transform UHI from an aspirant university through to a "best in class" example of a rural regional university. The Campus itself will build significant intellectual and cultural value, resulting in a major civic asset for the city and region for generations to come
The physical environment will:
o reflect the landscape setting of the Moray Firth and its rural context;
o be distinctively Highland
o connect locally, with the wider Highlands and Islands, regionally and globally
o contain a wide range of interest.
The project will set the highest possible standards in terms of energy efficiency, carbon emissions and sustainability.
Partners
A variety of partners are involved in the development of the Campus, including potential occupiers of the site and others with a strategic interest. These include:
Inverness College UHI - relocation and development of this key UHI partner providing FE and HE in the city of Inverness
University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) – development of key shared and strategic facilities including a potential multi-disciplinary research centre.
Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) – relocation and development of SAC's Highlands and Islands HQ providing research, business advisory and veterinary services facilities.
Health Science Centre – a further development from the ground-breaking Centre for Health Science, Inverness – a collaborative project potentially encompassing research facilities with a focus on primary care.
Calbyn (a partnership between Albyn Housing and Calman Trust) – a highly innovative development for a fully commercial hotel run as a social enterprise which will providing training and employment opportunities for vulnerable and marginalised young people.
Other key stakeholders include: The Highland Council, the Scottish Funding Council, NHS Highland and SportScotland.
The key elements of the Campus in the first phase of its development will include locations for the above-mentioned partners, plus the potential to establish:
· Growth of the existing, successful health and life sciences cluster
· High quality student residences
· A regional sports centre, for students, local residents and visitors
· Business incubator units and technology park for commercialisation of research and spin-out businesses
· Attractive new public space/parkland
· Community facilities
