The University of Canberra (UC) has outlined plans for a new, more connected campus with the release of the UC Master Plan today, 25 March.
The Master Plan will see the Bruce campus develop a series of โlearning neighbourhoodsโ with a student, working and living population of approximately 45,000 people over the next 20 years. Included in the plan is a future alignment for light rail on campus, more accommodation, a University park, and a new arena for performing arts and sport.
UC Vice-Chancellor and president, Professor Paddy Nixon said the Master Plan will see the University become better connected to Belconnen and Bruce.
โItโs about blurring the boundaries between campus and community and really building opportunities to live and to learn all in one geography,โ Professor Nixon said.
โThe Master Plan will see UC become better connected to Belconnen and Bruce with a proposed alignment for future light rail service travelling from Civic through the UC Campus and onto the Belconnen precinct as well as better walking and cycling connections.โ
The ambitious 20-year plan is predicted to be a five-billion-dollar investment, one that Professor Nixon said incorporates and honours the cultural heritage of the Ngunnawal land. He explained that the 60,0000 square metre increase in core university facilities is important to connecting with the local community.
โWeโre a civic university and I am a passionate believer that you donโt have a university sitting on itโs own, being an ivory tower and being disconnected to the world,โ he said.
โWeโve always been a university thatโs been about professions, about applied research but weโre also a university that brings peopleโฆ. connecting to the community is the only way to do that.โ
Robert McGauram, MGS Architects director and lead consultant on the Master Plan said one of the key aspects of the design was the idea of people who leave the campus feeling โbetter and heathier, with more insightsโ.
โThis has become more important post Covidโฆrecognising that a University going forward that is truly part of a unit, part of a city, it needs to embed living on its campus, working on its campus, its partners being on the campus,โ said Mr McGauram.
โThe University of Canberra had started its journey with the hospital on campus and with its Brumbies partnership โฆ It wants to take itโs ambition much further.โ
Mr McGauram also said that the Master Plan will provide a benchmark model of how to move forward in true reconciliation with the traditional owners.
โI was deeply impressed with the Universityโs commitment with that in the beginning,โ he said.
Member for Ginninderra, Tara Cheyne said the ACT Government is happy to have a conversation with the University about the larger projects, such as the light rail, that will benefit the whole community.
โItโs no secret from the ACT Government that Stage Three of the light rail is Belconnen to the airport. This is a conversation that the Government is looking forward to having with the community and with the University about exactly what route that will take,โ she said.
โNow we have a plan thereโs something we can look at and work with.โ
The Campus Master Plan will be brought to life by the University working in close partnership with business and industry on opportunities for forward-looking co-investment across commercial, retail and hospitality spaces.
โOur Master Plan leverages the energy that comes with being Australiaโs fastest rising university, paving a way over the next 20 years for a progressive and sustainable campus in the nationโs capital,โ Professor Nixon said.
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