Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery has warned that the University of Wollongong must not become “insular” as it works towards achieving the goals of its ambitious 20 year vision.
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Cr Bradbery welcomed this week’s release of the Wollongong campus master plan – which the university said was its “single largest unified planning exercise ever undertaken”.
“I think anything that puts the university towards its aim of becoming among the top one per cent [of institutions] in the world is a noble aspiration and it has my support,” he said.
Cr Bradbery also said the UOW vision to house thousands more students in on-campus accommodation and encourage a 24/7 culture with extended-hour services, shops and bars was not at odds with Wollongong council’s plans to encourage more life in the CBD.
“In some respects, this is creating a second city centre,” Cr Bradbery said.
“But we believe that the need to activate the CBD will be sustained by increased population density from new buildings, and I think there will be a flow of people from the university towards the city centre because that’s the nature of young people – they don’t want to be cooped up on a campus, they want to experience the broader city, beaches and nightlife.”
“But I do hope the university is not becoming insular, and I hope this masterplan is not contributing to that.”
Keiraville resident and Wollongong Neighbourhood Forum member, Felix Bronneberg said he believed UOW was “moving to the creation of a walled city” by surrounding itself by large four, five and seven-storey buildings.
He also said he believed Wollongong council had “failed to convince the university to consider the CBD as an extension to the campus”.
“The university is very self-centred and not working to connect itself with the city,” Mr Bronneberg said.
“And this will probably have a long-term, increasing detrimental effect on the neighbourhoods of Keiraville and Gwynneville, mainly because parking and traffic issues.
“If we’re going to have a second city centre next door to these neighbourhoods, it will be more important than ever that we have a main link into the university from the motorway and northern suburbs.”
The Mount Ousley Interchange forms a central part of UOW’s future access plans, and the university has set its 2036 car parking target at 3770 car spaces, up from the 3168 spaces that exist this year.
This will maintain a ratio of one car space for every 5.4 students, and the university also stated plans to push for a “modal shift” so a greater proportion of people use public or active transport.
The plans also says having 20 per cent of students living in on-campus accommodation meant “less pressure will be placed on short-term car parking within the campus and surrounding streets”.
Campaigner Bess Moylan said she was pleased to see the university “putting thought into planning” but aired her frustration that it had failed to address the problem of out-of-town student residents using surrounding streets as long-term parking.
“The thing about these students living on campus is that they bring their cars,” Ms Moylan said.
“There’s still been no discussion about residential students using the streets for long-term parking, because even though they don’t need cars once they live there, they have to bring their cars to get to Wollongong.”
Concerns about traffic and parking pressures created by the future plans were shared by many Mercury readers who used social media to call on the university to “address parking issues” and “fix up access”.
“Nowhere near enough parking,” reader Nicola Wade said on Facebook. “I would hate to live around there if the 24/7 plan goes ahead.”
Cr Bradbery also said he was “gravely concerned” about parking, accessibility and hoped the Mount Ousley Interchange would be funded to alleviate some of these problems.
“I don’t think [the interchange] will be the only answer, and it needs to be part of many strategies to be put in place to lessen congestion there,” here said.
Illawarra Business Chamber Executive Director Chris Lamont welcomed the university’s indications of which faculties would grow fastest in the next two decades.
The plan shows Engineering and Information Science and Sciences, Medicine and Health will require the most floor space, and Mr Lamont said this would give businesses and investors certainty.
“Business often wishes that it had a crystal ball, to plan for its future and develop a strategy and here you’ve got the university saying that it wants to be a leader in these fields,” Mr Lamont said.
“For businesses that are looking to expand, and perhaps have been concerned with their ability to attain or attract staff, this is a really good indication of where their future labour force will come from.”
Mr Lamont said the university’s focus on creating a vibrant around-the-clock campus would be a “win-win” for Wollongong businesses.
“The businesses that I represent in the city centre would want their share of student activity and student spend, but I think a development as significant as the university allows us to look at both the city centre and the surrounding community,” he said.
“The university has already made a substantial investment, and I think a product offering that includes activities, leisure and entertainment at the university, but also noting that students will want a city experience as well, is a win-win.”
“The university is under pressure – like other universities – to maximise the student experience so it makes sense that they want to provide as much as they can on campus. But we should also note that the university has student accommodation throughout the city and students themselves will look to engage with the CBD.”