The University of Bath has decided to withdraw from the proposed Gateway development project in Swindon.

The University’s governing body, Council, met to consider a recommendation from the University’s Senate to withdraw from the project. Council received a report from the Director of Estates on developments relating to the detail of the revised site Masterplan. Council was also informed that the creation of a new, research-led campus no longer appeared to align with national investment priorities for the higher education sector, calling into question the financial sustainability of the project.

Professor Glynis Breakwell, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, says that the decision to withdraw from the Gateway Project was made with great reluctance.

“For almost five years, the University of Bath, supported by a range of stakeholders, has been working to exploit an opportunity to build an iconic, new campus at the Gateway site in Swindon. It is very disappointing that the prevailing planning and funding conditions no longer appear to favour a project of this nature and scale.

“Although changing circumstances have worked against the Gateway project, we are confident that the University is already well-placed to respond to the government’s agenda for more radical approaches to higher education, particularly through increased employer engagement. Some of the activities at our existing Oakfield Campus in Swindon are in the vanguard of developing the flexible approaches to curriculum delivery that the sector is now being encouraged to explore.”

Professor Breakwell added: “We will continue to work closely with a wide range of external partners to explore how best to expand the higher education provision in Swindon and Wiltshire.”

Persimmon Special Projects and Redrow Homes South West (the funding partners of the Swindon Gateway Partnership) have also expressed regret at Bath University Council’s decision to withdraw, but reaffirmed their determination to deliver a leading university to develop a campus on the site at Commonhead near in Swindon.

Persimmon director Paul Davis said: “We remain very confident that a new University campus for Swindon will be developed on the Gateway site because we are aware of a number of other universities interested in expanding into Swindon.

“Our task now as developers is to work closely with Swindon Borough Council, existing higher educational providers and the business community in Swindon to identify a university with the right profile for the town that can deliver a modern campus on this site.

“There is a clear recognition within the business and educational communities in Swindon that the town needs a university to match its anticipated growth over the next 10 to 20 years.

“Swindon Council’s adopted local plan makes it clear that there are insufficient developable sites within the town centre to accommodate all the requirements of a new university. The Gateway site is therefore the only realistic location if Swindon is to have its own university and, with adopted planning policies confirming its status as the preferred location, we anticipate strong interest from a number of universities.

“Bath University has cited changes in government policy on higher education and problems with our revised masterplan for the site as reasons for its withdrawal.   “However, we do not believe that either of these points presents an obstacle to another university coming forward to develop a new campus at Commonhead,” he said.

The proposals for a university campus site on the Swindon Gateway site, expansion land for the Great Western Hospital, 1,800 new homes and land for a business park are now contained in both the adopted Wiltshire and Swindon Structure Plan 2016 and the adopted Swindon Borough Local Plan 2011.

The proposals are also viewed as a commitment in the draft South West Regional Spatial Strategy, which envisages a figure of 34,000 additional homes for Swindon over 20 years.

The adopted planning policies require the developers to secure a site of at least 60 hectares for a new university campus as part of the comprehensive development package.

Redrow and Persimmon are now committed to working with the relevant local authorities and other key stakeholders in Swindon to try to identify a leading university to develop the campus before submitting a revised planning application for the site.

It is hoped that a new planning application will be submitted later this year.