Ground has been broken on the University of New England’s new Tamworth campus in what Mayor Russell Webb called “a very important milestone.”
UNE Vice Chancellor Chris Moran joined Mayor Webb on Monday for the groundbreaking at the site of the old velodrome on the corner of Roderick and Peel streets, in what has been claimed to be a much-needed opportunity for the people of Tamworth.
“The original call to the university came from the community,” Vice Chancellor Moran said.
“If you look at Bachelors-level attainment in Tamworth, it’s way below national average – the national average is about 50%.
“Tamworth is below 20%.”
Moran pointed out that UNE has quite a few students from Tamworth, and that the Tamworth campus would provide “direct access” to university facilities for Tamworth students, which would hopefully encourage more Tamworth school leavers to see university as a vital step forward.
The new campus will be focused on the needs of the town, Moran says.
“The building that we’re putting up,” Moran said, “there’ll be quite some focus on health, with nursing simulations, hopefully local people who stay and live locally.”
Moran later clarified, however, that the health-related degrees they could offer at the moment would not extend to GP training.
The demand for the places is there, but the Commonwealth funding is not, Moran said.
“With our medical degree, we have a fixed number of places that the Commonwealth government allows us to allocate every year,” Moran said.
“So we have more applicants every year, as you might imagine, for the regional/rural medical degree than we have places,” Moran said.
The campus would also focus on the industrial needs of the town, with a focus on the local manufacturing sector and abattoirs, and would like to see more done to reduce waste.
“We’re also looking really carefully at what the industry here in Tamworth is seeking in the development of skills and what jobs are available.”
“There’s quite a large group of small manufacturers here that are growing, and they’re seeing future skills requirements for them as they move more towards automation.”
Mayor Russell Webb, joining Vice Chancellor Moran at the site, said that it was a positive thing for the town.
“We’ve been trying to get a university presence here in Tamworth for a very long time,” Webb said.
“We’ve seen most of our regional cities in New South Wales, they’ve got a university presence – we’ve had a university presence here, but it’s been very small.
UNE has had a study centre in Tamworth for decades, and the University of Newcastle opened a muti-million dollar education centre in the city in 2014 which is home to the Peel Clinical School, and has recently been expanded to add another 30 beds for students.
“So growing, that university presence here is absolutely going to be a deal maker in terms of actually helping grow our economy and grow the community’s ability to serve the business community into the future.”
“If we don’t grow those job opportunities, and we don’t grow the opportunities for kids leaving school to actually get a university education in our city, we’re going to lose them.”
The initial site is modest by university standards, covering approximately half a town block which the previous Vice Chancellor said was too small for a teaching campus.
“What it’ll do for our main street and CBD,” Webb said, “is add vibrance, and will certainly add a lot of activity to this end of Peel Street.
“It’ll grow business opportunities.”
Demolition and preparation for the UNE site is currently underway by Tamworth Regional Council, at a cost of “about three hundred thousand bucks – well inside the budget estimate” according to Mayor Webb.
If all goes well, Moran has stated that the first intake of students should be on track for Trimester 1 of the 2027.
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