£500m Swansea University campus plan is welcomed by councillor

SWANSEA University's new campus scheme has received a mark of approval from the councillor whose ward it will be built in, if it gets the go-ahead.

Harry Bebell described the planned £500 million Bay Science and Innovation Campus, off Fabian Way, as a vast improvement to the nearby sewage works and Crymlyn Burrows materials recovery and energy centre.

Neath Port Talbot borough councillor Harry Bebell at the site of the proposed new Swansea University campus. Councillor Bebell has hailed the scheme as a major boost for the area. JM160310/A/1

Councillor Bebell said he felt Swansea and Neath Port Talbot councils had shoved unpopular schemes to the edge of their boundaries, where his Coedffranc West ward lies.

"People are pleased with the university (plans)," said Councillor Bebell. "It is a quality development on a brownfield site, and I suppose they will do it right.

"It will attract shops, and maybe we will have a pub again — our nearest ones are in Port Tennant and Skewen."

The university this week submitted an application for outline planning permission for the new beach front campus, which will be part private and part publicly funded, at the former BP site. University chiefs hope it will attract 4,000 students, plus blue chip companies such as Rolls-Royce, which has already pledged to build a new materials testing and research centre.

The existing Singleton Park campus will be redeveloped if the Fabian Way one is built, potentially by 2013.

Councillor Bebell added: "Residents cannot complain about losing their sea view, because they didn't have one until the BP tanks were taken down."

But he warned that increased traffic could be a problem, and that the sheer size of the scheme could mean life in the future is different for constituents.

"After the M4, Fabian Way is the second busiest road in the borough, and extra traffic is going to be a hazard," he said. "The main problem is what happens when that traffic hits the River Tawe in Swansea."

He also urged the university to ensure its plans still gave people access to the beach and nearby dunes.

The proposed campus lies at the western boundary of the Crymlyn Burrows site of special scientific interest, which extends east to the mouth of River Neath.

Drop-in sessions about the plans take place at Swansea University library tomorrow, from 11am-7pm; Aberavon Shopping Centre on March 23, from 11am-4.30pm; and the National Waterfront Museum on March 25, from 11am-4.30pm.

richard.youle@swwmedia.co.uk