Heslington East to go ahead at cost of £500m
The University of York has received government permission to proceed with its £500m Heslington East expansion on Green Belt land, despite controversy over the impact it will have on the environment and life in the area.
The project, which has already cost £2m in legal and planning fees, was given the go-ahead by Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on May 25.
The expansion will massively increase the size and facilities of the University. The number of students will increase by over 50%, while the number of academics will rise to a total of 4,500. New facilities will include a central student venue with a total capacity of 1,500, an 8-lane swimming pool and a sports and athletics stadium.
Professor Brian Cantor, Vice Chancellor of the University, who has presided over the bid for expansion, welcomed the decision as beneficial for both the University and the community. In a statement he said: “It will enable the University to play an important role in the future prosperity of York and the UK as a whole. The University’s growth will bring substantial economic, environmental, recreational and cultural benefits for Yorkshire and beyond.”
Greg Dyke, the University’s Chancellor and a former student, praised the hard work of all those involved in the project, and said: “The challenge now is to make sure that Heslington East retains the beauty and the informality of the existing campus.”
However, the news was met with dismay by opponents of the expansion both in the University and outside. Dr. Richard Firn, a Biology professor and long-time opponent of Heslington East, said “the process has been an expensive way of failing to find the optimum solution for the community. The scheme is unimaginative and environmentally unsound.”
Mark Hill, former Green Party councillor, said the new development would cause major disruption for local residents. He said “life will be hell in the village for the next few years of intense construction, and afterwards, half of the city will be suffering from massively increased traffic pressure.”
The decision by the government to allow the expansion to go ahead on Green Belt land was justified by the claim that there are “no suitable alternative sites”. Opponents of the expansion refute this assertion, with former Green Party candidate Peter Sanderson accusing the government and University of “colluding” to rule out alternatives.
Building work, according to Keith Lilley, Director of Facilities Management, will start in the spring of 2008. He said that “in an ideal world, we’d like to have Phase 1 done by about October 2009.” He also said that the University would finalise the hiring of an architectural firm in the next week, and that they already had a preferred bidder in mind.
