Memorandum submitted by Leicester College
LEICESTER COLLEGE / BRITISH WATERWAYS PARTNERSHIP
SUMMARY
Leicester College has been working with British
Waterways (BW) for some six years to bring about regeneration
of a part of Leicester encompassing longstanding derelict land
and disposal of a life-expired campus. This partnership has been
based on the pooling of land in order to generate maximum value
and potential for attractive development. The joint aspiration
has seen the creation of a Masterplan for the area involving high
quality canal-side residential accommodation, enhanced facilities
for canal-users and the general public and a flagship new College
building. BW's expertise in regeneration has contributed significantly
to the successful development of the scheme, while the logistics
of building the College's new campus have been greatly facilitated
by the use of BW's land. The College considers that the very strong
working relationship has produced an exemplary scheme that represents
more than the sum of the parts. On the strength of this experience,
the College commends BW to the Committee and hopes that it will
be able to deliver other such schemes in the future.
1. Leicester College was created in 1999
(through the merger of two other Colleges) and is now the eighth
largest general FE college in England and Wales. Ever since merger
it has sought to rationalise and redevelop the resulting fragmented
estate. The worst existing accommodation is situated to the north
of the city centre at the Abbey Park campus. This site lies adjacent
to derelict land owned by BW.
2. As part of the appraisal of options open
to the College, contact was first made with BW in late 2001 following
the appointment of a Project Director tasked with the rationalisation
and re-building of the College. It became clear that there was
mutual benefit in working together to bring about a wholesale
improvement of the area centred on a canal barge arm (off the
Grand Union Canal) that lay between the two sites.
3. As the College's project developed, it
became clear that the existing Abbey Park accommodation was in
such poor condition that it was not economically viable to refurbish
or remodel it. However, the cost of building a new campus would
also be unaffordable unless a part of the site could be sold off
to realise a funding receipt for the project. Equally, the logistics
of building new accommodation on the existing site while maintaining
use of the present buildings would not be possible unless space
for decanting became available nearby. Discussions therefore began
in earnest with BW in 2002 regarding the possibility of partnership
working. BW had been trying to develop their own land for some
while, but the relatively small size of the site and its restrictive
access arrangements had made this unviable. It was agreed that
by working together we could facilitate the College building process
and then bring about a major regeneration of the resulting surplus
College land combined with the derelict land in BW's possession.
4. Joint discussions were held with the
Leicester Regeneration Company (LRC) and Leicester City Council
(LCC) in order to integrate with and contribute to proposals for
the broader regeneration strategy of the City and the waterways
(canal and river) running through it.
5. A brief for an area Masterplan was drawn
up, most of the input being provided by BW given their experience
and expertise in such matters. The requirement was for a high
quality development that would: provide maximum receipts to both
BW and the College; at the same time create a high quality and
attractive waterside setting for the public to enjoy; encourage
use of that part of the canal network by creating moorings and
a service point for canal users; integrate with the LRC's proposed
strategic footpath network; and of course integrate with the proposed
redeveloped College campus. The benefits of bringing about such
a wide regeneration of that part of the City were recognised by
the Leicester Shire Economic Partnership (one of the sub-regional
strategic partnerships of the East Midlands Development Agency)
resulting in them agreeing to part-fund the Master-planning exercise.
6. The resulting Masterplan (prepared by
the Bond Bryan Partnership) recommended residential accommodation
fronting the canal and barge arm, the creation of significant
public realm spaces (both within the residential areas and adjacent
to the new College building), public footpaths and a cycleway
linking into the LRC's strategic network by means of a new bridge
over the main canal, short term and residential moorings (some
to be created within a second re-excavated barge arm), a servicing
station for canal users, and a wildlife zone to attract nesting
water birds etc to the area.
7. The Masterplan was sufficiently developed
to form the basis of an Outline planning submission to LCC, which
was unanimously approved.
8. Approval of this comprehensive Masterplan
provided sufficient reassurance to the Learning & Skills Council
(LSC) to give the College approval in principle to proceed with
the development of its rebuilding scheme and no doubt also influenced
its decision to contribute support funding at an unusually high
level given the broader economic and environmental benefits that
accrued from the jointly developed scheme.
9. While the College began developing the
construction detail of its own part of the scheme, a developer
was sought for the purchase and development of the pooled disposal
land. The College has been happy to let BW lead in the evaluation
of bids and subsequent development of the scheme with the preferred
developer given, again, their experience and expertise in such
matters.
10. Having secured Reserved Matters planning
consent and detailed approval/funding from the LSC the College
finally commenced work on site in January 2007. The necessary
site area was made available to the builder by removing all car
parking from the existing campus and utilising BW's land as a
temporary car park, leased for a peppercorn rent. Without this
assistance from BW it is doubtful whether the College could have
undertaken such an unhindered development, and at the very least
the cost to the public purse would have been significantly higher
had commercial arrangements needed to be made with others.
11. The College's new flagship building
will be handed over at the end of June. Users of the existing
accommodation will be then be moved into the new building over
the summer vacation and teaching will commence there in September.
At the end of September both BW's and the College's disposal land
will be sold to the developer and the wider regeneration of the
area can begin.
12. Throughout the entire process of this
joint development the working relationship between BW and the
College has been strong, warm, open, trusting and mutually supportive.
We have survived setbacks and disappointments on the strength
of that relationship and our determination to deliver a scheme
that represents more than the sum of the parts. In particular
the College development has benefited from BW's vision for bringing
back into use the surrounding waterways and for its detailed understanding
of broad regeneration considerations; the environment around the
new College building would undoubtedly have been the poorer were
it not for BW's involvement.
13. Finally it is worth observing that whilst
others may attract much of the kudos for regenerating Leicester,
this particular corner of the City will have been changed beyond
recognition by BW and the College together without significant
direct support from the regeneration authorities.
14. On the strength of our experience of
working with them and our understanding of the other regeneration
schemes they are involved with, the College commends BW to the
Committee and very much hopes that they will be adequately funded
to continue their work in this very necessary field.
Leicester College
March 2008
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