PLANS for a £20million landmark building that will form the centrepiece of Suffolk's new university campus are likely to be given the go-ahead this week.
PLANS for a £20million landmark building that will form the centrepiece of Suffolk's new university campus are likely to be given the go-ahead this week.
The seven-storey structure is set to be built between Fore Street and Duke Street on Ipswich Waterfront by 2008.
Ipswich borough councillors have been recommended to approve the development, which will form the headquarters of University Campus Suffolk (UCS), at its planning and development meeting on Wednesday.
But the plans, which would see the demolition of 130 Fore Street, have provoked anger among residents of the neighbouring 10-storey Neptune Marina apartment block.
The residents claim the building is an “overdevelopment” of the site, is too tall and too close to the apartments. They have also claimed they were assured no structure taller than three-storeys would be built on the land when they purchased their homes.
But these concerns have been rejected by council officers, who say the loss of view is “not a valid planning consideration”.
They have recommended windows above the first floor are obscured to avoid the potential for Neptune Marina to be overlooked.
A council report said: “The proposals will contribute massively to the ongoing regeneration of the waterfront and be a catalyst for further investment in the education quarter and elsewhere.”
The building will include a student centre, teaching space, classrooms, lecture theatres, offices, a café, retail space and computer rooms.
The ground floor will include a spacious reception and exhibition area, along with the café, shop and two lecture theatres. The upper floors will accommodate the majority of the teaching and office space.
A green transport strategy has been devised and will encourage staff and students using the building to cycle, walk or use public transport.
This will see a shuttle bus provided, a new pedestrian crossing on Fore Street and cycle parking facilities along with shower and changing rooms. Any cash made from car parking will be re-invested in development the green strategy.
UCS is set to take its first intake of students in September 2007 and the new headquarters will be ready for the second academic year.
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