£40-million campus to be built at Pool

TODAY The West Briton can reveal a massive £52-million investment in education and new businesses at Pool.

A new campus for Cornwall College will cost £40-million and a further £12-million is being invested on a new business innovation centre.

Details of the college development will be showcased at a public consultation exhibition next Thursday.

The proposed three-storey building will incorporate a glass atrium and a 'high street'.

A Pool Innovation Centre will support start-up businesses and is forecast to create 130 jobs by 2015.

The eventual aim is to create as many as 2,000 office-based jobs at Pool.

The centre, on Trevenson Road, will cost £11.2-million to build and fit out and a further £700,000 will be allocated for specialist business support.

The new college campus will accommodate more than 2,000 staff and students and will house specialist facilities for catering and hospitality, the arts and media.

Don McKenzie, head of faculty for retail and service industries, said: "This has been a fabulous project. Lots of us have been involved in the design and to be able to help create a purpose-built learning space has been an incredible opportunity.

"The students and staff can look forward to state-of-the-art facilities both in the practical and classroom areas, incorporating the latest technology and equipment, up to industrial standards."

As the college is keen to make students' learning as 'real' as possible, new facilities such as the proposed restaurant, hairdressing and beauty salons, retail shops and the onsite travel agent will be sited in a high-street style setting with the classrooms and workshops behind the scenes.

John Clayton, president of the college's students union, said: "This is a great proposal for the whole area. The Camborne campus draws students from across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and this new building will make the journey even more worthwhile."

The new college is planned to be built on ground adjacent to the recently constructed learning centre, bringing the further and higher education buildings closer together.

The campus will be built and occupied before any of the current buildings are de molished, keeping disruption to a minimum.

The plans detail a new main access to the college from Tolvaddon road, just off the A30.

Bill Radmore, CPR Regeneration's director of investment, said: "These exciting proposals will transform the college and create new opportunities for local people to learn new skills, secure quality jobs and contribute to the comprehensive regeneration of Camborne, Pool and Redruth.

"They complement other plans along Trevenson Road, including the Pool Innovation Centre and new office space at East Hill."

Architect Iain Stewart, from Poynton Bradbury Wynter Cole, said: "Essentially, our aim is to positively enhance the college so it supports the wider regeneration of the area.

"We want to provide a continuity of experience for the local community, making Pool a more attractive place to live, work and visit."

Raoul Humphreys, head of Cornwall College Camborne, said: "A brand new purpose-built college is an exciting prospect for the area. The building has been designed to put learning and students first.

"It will be a college which looks great and has fantastic facilities for both students and staff."

Work on the innovation centre is expected to begin early next year, with the first tenants moving in by the summer of 2010.

Andrew Mitchell, Cornwall County Council's economic portfolio holder, said: "This new, high-quality workspace will help local businesses grow and attract new types of business."

Theo Leijser, the SW Regional Development Agency's director for Cornwall, said the aim was to create an environment for businesses to thrive and prosper.

"This is especially important during the current economic downturn and we want to ensure that when we come out of it Cornwall is ready to do business."

The three-storey building will consist of 49 offices in five different sizes, with six shared meeting rooms and a conference facility.

Nigel Tipple, chief executive of CPR Regeneration, said: "This is just the first of a series of new investments in offices and workspace within the Trevenson Road corridor which could be home to up to 2,000 office based jobs in the future."

● The college exhibition will be held on the bottom floor of the Trelawny building on December 18, from 2pm to 7:30pm.

For more information, call 01726 226667.

You can see more images of the proposed development on our website, www.thisiscornwall.co.uk.