Warwick’s £400 million expansion approved

The University of Warwick’s application for its £400 million development plan was approved by the Coventry City Council Planning Committee in December, on the condition that parking and infrastructure are adequately accommodated on campus.

The University’s master plan for the development has now been approved by both local authorities, the Coventry City Council and Warwick District Council.

The development will see 171,000 square metres of additional expansion on the existing campus over the next ten years. It will see an expected increase of 4,000 staff and students at the University, a 40 per cent increase on current numbers. The increase in student numbers will be predominately postgraduates.

The campus extension includes some use of the Warwickshire Green Belt, a protected area. However, the University will not be moving past the boundaries it was allocated in 1965.

Peter Dunn, Head of Press and Media relations for the University, said that it would now be much easier to obtain approval for individual projects, “this endorsement of our overall development plans simply means that the process of getting particular permissions for individual new developments should be much simpler if they fit this now accepted and agreed over all development plan.”

Some of the new buildings cited in the master plan for the first five years stage have already been completed, like the new Tennis Centre and Digital Laboratory. The final development will include new student accommodation and social areas as well as academic facilities.

However, the plan’s approval is contingent on a legal requirement to ensure there will be adequate parking available.

The Senior Planning Officer of Coventry City Council, Rowan Reid, commented that the Committee had approved the plan as long as “satisfactory measures can be agreed with the University for inclusion in the legal obligation to prevent student parking in the surrounding residential roads”.

Dunn added, “We have worked hard over a number of years now to consult closely with the local community and local authorities about our future development plans and we are very pleased with the very positive response we have had to them.”