PLANS for the $42m first stage of Charles Sturt University’s new campus in Port Macquarie were unveiled last week.
CSU vice-chancellor Professor Andrew Vann released the first-stage design at the university’s current temporary Grant Street campus on Thursday.
“This is an extremely exciting and important chapter for CSU in Port Macquarie, where vision starts to become reality,” Professor Vann said.
“Since 2012, the university has provided many education opportunities to the people of the Mid-North Coast.
“Stage one of the new campus will expand this tertiary reach by offering places for up to 770 full-time equivalent students and expand the range of courses on offer.”
The new campus will be located at Lake Innes, about five kilometres from the city centre, and will be completed through a staged building program up until 2030, with stage one opening in February 2016.
During stage one, teaching and research areas, a library and learning commons, and an indigenous student centre will be built around a central courtyard.
Executive director of the CSU Division of Facilities Management Stephen Butt said outside learning and common areas are prominent features of the design.
“The designers have developed a campus that is in tune with the environment and generates a sense of place,” he said.
The campus will also house the Food Soil Water Testing Centre, a joint initiative between CSU and the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.
Funding assistance of more than $18 million for stage one has been supplied through the Federal Government.
Head of campus CSU Port Macquarie Ross Chambers said the development application for stage one was already before council and the period for public comment would close shortly.
He said CSU had already started seeking expressions of interest from local construction companies and the official tender process would start in the near future.
“We are very keen for local builders to be involved in that process,” he said.
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Huge boost for Hastings
CSU Port Macquarie head of campus Ross Chambers said new CSU campuses in other areas had had a tremendous positive impact on the local economy.
“In Wagga, for instance a town about the same size, CSU is responsible for 13 per cent of employment.
“In our model for the Port Macquarie campus, by 2030 the campus will have 3500 students and 350 staff. Of that 3500 students, at least 700 or 800 will international.
“Education is a big industry in its own right in regional communities and is an industry that drives other things.”
