MMU marches on with Hulme campus plans
MANCHESTER Metropolitan University’s plans to build a new £70m campus in Hulme have moved a step closer after the city council publicly backed the plans.
The leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Lease said the investment and subsequent regeneration was “particularly welcome” given the current economic climate.
He said: “This new campus will be a world-class development benefiting Hulme, neighbouring areas and the city as a whole.
“It will bring not just new jobs but also improved educational and community facilities. I’m particularly pleased to see that environmental sustainability will also be at the heart of its design.”
The university had originally planned to expand the existing 20-acre Didsbury campus at a cost of £19m, but it met opposition from some local residents.
Instead, both the Rusholme and Didsbury campuses will be brought together at the Hulme site to provide education and training for around 5,000 teachers, nurses, social workers and other health care professionals.
MMU and the city council are now working on a masterplan for a campus, called Birley Fields, bordering Stretford Road and the Princess Road.
The site will include a skills and job centre, urban village hall, health centre and business centre.
