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Construction of student accommodation commences at Penryn Station site
05.08.11
Redruth-based Bath Row Developments, who secured planning permission to construct a 233-bed student accommodation scheme adjoining Penryn Railway Station in 2009, has appointed Kier Living to be its lead contractor and construction has now commenced. The development is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2012/2013 academic year.
This private sector development is being underwritten by University College Falmouth (UCF) and the University of Exeter (UoE), who share and jointly manage the Tremough Campus in Penryn, demonstrating their support for professionally-managed student residences in line with their accommodation strategy.
UCF and UoE have developed this strategy in consultation with Bristol-based company, Campus Development Management (CDM), a UK-wide specialist in the student accommodation sector. CDM has also managed the tri-partite legal negotiations between Bath Row Developments, its funders and the institutions.
The Station Road development will provide contemporary student accommodation for 233 students in clusters of between four and seven rooms, and in a small number of studios.
“The scheme will incorporate planted areas and green open spaces that will significantly enhance the visual impact of the site and utilise local materials, sub-contractors and suppliers as much as possible,” explained Bob Pepper of Bath Row Developments. “All of the work on site is being carried out by Kier Living, who will be sourcing 85% of the labour and materials for the development from within the West Country.”
The finished scheme will be managed by CRM, the market leader in the management of student accommodation across the country. CRM will provide an on-site management team and manage the letting administration, security, maintenance, cleaning, laundrette, health and safety compliance, and IT services.
Residents will be encouraged to use the excellent, subsidised public transport links that exist locally as well as a car hire club and the free bicycles that each student cluster is going to be provided with as part of Bath Row Development’s green travel plan.
“We are delighted to have reached agreement with Bath Row and to support a development that dovetails with our strategy,” said Niamh Lamond, the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Tremough Campus Services Group (TCSG), the company that operates the flagship 100 acre Tremough Campus on behalf of UCF and UoE. “Working with a private sector developer and the local authorities to deliver the kind of accommodation that 21st century students want, and that eases the impact of the universities’ planned growth on houses of multiple occupancy in the traditional private rental sector is a positive step forward for our students as well as our wider community. The fact that it will be professionally-managed by a company who have a wealth of experience in this area will also mean that any issues raised by local residents can be dealt with swiftly and effectively.”
“We are delighted to be working with Bath Row Developments and to have started work on this major new accommodation project at Penryn for the students of UCF and UoE,” added Kier Living’s Construction Manager, Paul Postlethwaite. “The purpose-built apartments will provide some fantastic accommodation and we hope they will really enhance the university experience of the students lucky enough to live here when they start their courses in 2012.”
“This new development will offer students a campus experience off-campus, so will add to the range of accommodation that is available,” said incoming FXU Students’ Union President for the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus, Jonathan Harris. “Its proximity to Penryn’s main street should also benefit local businesses.”
The University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are founding partners in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique collaboration between six universities and colleges to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.
Ends
For further information about this press release, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR, MCIPR, Public Engagement Manager for University College Falmouth and the University of Exeter, on 01326 213792, 07825 420690 or email jilly.easterby@tremoughservices.com
Notes to Editors
About University College Falmouth
UCF is a vibrant and innovative specialist arts university – a key player in the national and international creative arena. Building on over 100 years of fresh thinking and creativity, UCF has achieved international prestige for its leading-edge courses in Art, Design, Media, Performance and Writing.
UCF is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the right to award degrees in its own name. The University College has two campuses – at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns and jointly manages with the University of Exeter).
UCF’s merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008 created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth’s expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington’s expertise in Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing. The Dartington-based courses have now relocated to an impressive, high-specification £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus, which launched in October 2010. The European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme invested £12,266,667 in this development which will prepare performance students for success within the creative industries. The South West Regional Development Agency’s Single Pot Fund contributed a further £3M, with the remainder being invested by the Higher Education Funding Council for England’s Strategic Development Fund.
The creation of an Academy for Innovation & Research and innovative shared learning and teaching space, The Exchange, represent the next phase of UCF’s ambition to create a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be one of the top five arts institutes in the world.
About the University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a leading UK university and in the top one percent of institutions globally. It combines world class research with very high levels of student satisfaction. Exeter is ranked 10th in the UK in The Times Good University Guide 2012 and 11th in the Guardian University Guide 2012. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 90% of the University’s research was rated as being at internationally recognised levels and 16 of its 31 subjects are ranked in the top 10, with 27 subjects ranked in the top 20.
The University has over 17,000 students at three campuses. The Streatham and St Luke’s campuses are in Exeter and the Cornwall Campus (known locally as Tremough) near Penryn. In an arrangement that is unique in the UK, the Cornwall Campus is owned and jointly managed as the Tremough Campus with University College Falmouth. At the campus, University of Exeter students can study programmes in Geology, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Renewable Energy, English, History, Biosciences, Geography and Politics.
The University of Exeter is currently developing its campuses in Exeter and Cornwall with almost £350 million worth of new facilities due for completion by 2012.
About Campus Development Management
Campus Development Management is a specialist in the student accommodation sector working across the UK within three principal areas: Advisory, Capital Management and Associate businesses.
The company is involved in every aspect of the sector including: strategic reviews and option analysis; site identification and acquisition; planning; development; funding and fund implementation; asset management; operational and marketing implementation; commercial arrangements with universities; investment and sales; university advice and project procurement.
We work with a broad range of clients and partners including landowners, developers, house builders, investors, accountants, contractors, funders, funds and universities.
www.campusdevelopmentmanagement.co.uk
About Kier Living
Kier Living is part of the Kier Group. Kier Living services the affordable and residential housing sector, and offers a broad spectrum of new homes, together with extra care and student accommodation. The Kier Living team has many years of housing experience with expertise running through the whole development process from land assembly and funding though to aftercare. Kier Living is based in Exeter and has offices in Truro, Plymouth, Bristol and Newport.
