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New campus will boost business in town, college bosses claim

1:20pm Friday 10th February 2012 in News

COLLEGE bosses have said a state-of-the art town centre campus will boost business in Grays.

Plans for South Essex College’s £45million campus were given the green light but development corporation planning officials last week.

As well as increasing the quality of education for youths in Thurrock, bosses have said the development will bring more than 2,000 students and staff into the heart of the town centre.

John Hayles, acting principle and chief executive of the college, hopes the extra footfall with support businesses in and around the High Street.

He said: “It is anticipated the college will be a key economic driver for the local economy and its traders due to the power of the ‘student pound’.

“Grays High Street along will see an increase of thousands of extra feet on the street that will bring much welcomed benefits to local retailers.”

Plans for the campus include a restaurant, shops, a library, workshops, studios and health and advice centres.

Mr Hayles said the campus would have new brick, engineering and carpentry workshops.

He added: “We believe the young people of Thurrock deserve the best and that is what we are planning to deliver.

“Far from reducing courses the new campus will enhance and improve them.

“The new build will also be home to exciting new offers, such as a sustainable technologies centre, which will only enhance much needed employment opportunities in this emerging field.”

Bosses have said the current 1960’s Woodview campus is inflexible with some buildings requiring significant maintenance, heating and repair.

Comments(11)

Cvh says...
1:42pm Fri 10 Feb 12

There is nothing on Earth that would boost that town centre .

What a rubbish article

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Bernard 87 says...
1:54pm Fri 10 Feb 12

It's the folk of Woodview I feel sorry for.

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Thurrock bus man says...
6:08pm Fri 10 Feb 12

What a joke! How can these students boost Grays Town Centre when there is nothing left to 'boost'! If anything, after seeing Grays Town Centre, (the scum hole of the universe), I would imagine most prospective new students will be put off going there anyway! All you will end up with is a shiny new college crammed into Grays with no thought about the town centre which DESPERATELY needs regenerating. Even with extra footfall in the town centre, do you really think TBC will spend any money on it? I don't think so - all they are interested in is getting money from developers and from council tax on the new homes to be built on the old college site and probably waste the money they make on consultants for 'this that and the other' and get nothing meaningful done as per usual.

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A.N.Other says...
10:55pm Fri 10 Feb 12

Bernard 87 wrote:
It's the folk of Woodview I feel sorry for.
I feel sorry for the Woodview residents who are being misled by their two tory councillors who are pretending to oppose the plans for the college to be demolished and a massive housing estate built there when they have twice both voted for the site to be sold off and sold for houses. These toriesare snakes and I hope Woodview residents wake up and realise these two have voted twice for the site to be sold off for houses.

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Dave_ says...
6:43am Sat 11 Feb 12

We have a Labour run council, thus they could have thrown it out.
Do the students in other town centre based colleges spend hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds in the shops in the towns centres, I very much doubt it.
This acting vice principal "hopes" that the students provide footfall. Probably like he hopes to be non acting principal. With people like this is in charge of education, God help us.
The only reason The Tech is as they insinuate is due to lack of investment. What makes me smile is that Palmer's just across the road has parts that are a lot older than The Tech, so by the thinking displayed about The Tech should have been pulled down. But the trustees of Palmer's have made changes etc to keep it relevant. If only South Essex College had people with such insight working for it, rather than shallow, narrow minded individuals who can't see beyond £ signs and ruining people's lives in a nice residential area.

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A Dermot says...
9:22am Sat 11 Feb 12

Dave_ wrote:
We have a Labour run council, thus they could have thrown it out. Do the students in other town centre based colleges spend hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds in the shops in the towns centres, I very much doubt it. This acting vice principal "hopes" that the students provide footfall. Probably like he hopes to be non acting principal. With people like this is in charge of education, God help us. The only reason The Tech is as they insinuate is due to lack of investment. What makes me smile is that Palmer's just across the road has parts that are a lot older than The Tech, so by the thinking displayed about The Tech should have been pulled down. But the trustees of Palmer's have made changes etc to keep it relevant. If only South Essex College had people with such insight working for it, rather than shallow, narrow minded individuals who can't see beyond £ signs and ruining people's lives in a nice residential area.
There were more Conservative Councillors at the meting than Labour Councillors yet every single Conservative Councilor voted for this. If the Conservatives had voted against this then it wouldn't have gone through. The bizarre thing is that you now have Conservstive councillors campaigning to stop the woodview site being sold for houses when they have already voted twice for it to be council policy that the land is sold off for housing!

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d_2da_ougle says...
3:35pm Sat 11 Feb 12

wood view would make a nice site for a new hospitial i think after all how many extra houses are we going to be getting, ark at the state of basildon how they cant cop as it is right now

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Dave_ says...
3:56pm Sat 11 Feb 12

I think that perhaps the other councillors voted as sort of NIMBYism. It still doesn't get away from the fact that there was no will in the majority party to throw this out. The fact, as you state, so few Labour councillors were at the meeting, displays contempt for the people of Woodview and so they can divert blame, ie I wasn't there when it got voted in.

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Thurrockbob says...
3:06am Sun 12 Feb 12

It's not about boosting Grays town centre, it's about building houses somewhere locals don't want them!

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improving road safety says...
8:34am Sun 12 Feb 12

I agree with A.Dermot, what he says is true, in a nut shell, the Thurrock Conservatives councilors have let down the very people that voted them in, its now time for the residents of Woodside estate to bite the bullet, the past argument has been rubber stamped and is now running water under the bridge, I really do feel sorry for the residents of Woodside and its time to bite the bullet or up sticks and move, as for the college bringing business back to Grays, I bet McDonald’s returns! as for any two faced Thurrock councilors, I hope you have a guilty conscience when you pick up your yearly expenses, it appears that some councilors are only in it for what they can get out of it, oh well, there’s always the next local election!!

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Dave_ says...
2:41pm Mon 13 Feb 12

I bet the Labour cllrs are rubbing their hands together over the fact their unremitting complacency can yet again be deflected elsewhere. Given the arguments about Conservative cllrs voting for it and not voting against, if the Labour cllrs had a femtogram of political nous between them, they could have thrown it out, made the current cllrs out to be bad and who knows, get more Labour wards. But now they’ve missed that boat and show that they couldn’t give a stuff about local opinion, if it’s not what they want to hear. Stupid is as stupid does.

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