Manchester Metropolitan University Hulme Campus | Birley Fields | Hulme | U/C

[jrb]

Might as well seperate it from the Hulme thread as new information is about to be revealed about the proposal.

Many thanks to Gareth at MMU for the large render's and information about the documentation and website.

To confirm, from June 25, we should have documentation on the plans for the £120m campus on the site at www.mmu.ac.uk/hulme

Also.

The site.




Originally posted by Hulmeman2.

Originally Posted by hulmeman2

Plans and associated documents for MMU Birley Fields development now online:

http://www.manchester.gov.uk/egov_do...rleyFields.pdf

Happy to see the multi storey carpark has been moved to a sensible location, and a nce new open square in Hulme too!

Brief overview of the proposal. From Crains.

MMU submits Hulme plans
By Simon Binns


Manchester Metropolitan University's will submit outline plans for a £120m super-campus in Birley FIelds, Hulme to the city council on Wednesday, June 24.

The proposed “community campus” would create around 340 jobs, and the university £29m additional annual value to Hulme and neighbouring Moss Side.

If plans are approved, there will be a three-month period of public consultation to refine and develop the proposals before a formal application is made.

MMU vice-chancellor Professor John Brooks said: "A brand new campus is not only good news for students and staff but puts the university into the heart of the community it serves creating jobs and opportunity and helping to address crucial agendas for the city on health and education."

“The University plans to transform Birley Fields into a lively place of education, with a new public square and shared community facilities on "the most sustainable campus in the UK".

The site, bordered by Stretford Road, Royce Road and Princess Road, would house the University's teacher training and health faculties, educating up to 6,000 professionals for the region's schools, hospitals, health and social services.

Sir Richard Leese, Leader of Manchester City Council said: "MMU's proposal has the potential to herald a new chapter in the regeneration of Hulme. As well as the jobs it directly creates there will be significant spin-off benefits for businesses as students and staff spend money in the area. Crucially, it will also open up new higher education opportunities for local people."

The scheme is part of a £400m investment in MMU campuses across Manchester and Cheshire.

Comments?sbinns@crain.com

[jrb]

Documets are up. More renders and info. Apologies if they were already up when I initially posted the link to the webiste, but I can't remember if they were or weren't. Fo those that haven't seen the PDF document's they are on the website.

http://www.mmu.ac.uk/hulme/hulme-proposals.php

[staticmeltdown]

This looks like an excellent plan to me, fits in well with the local area in terms of scale and layout, and retains a large green space too.

[Comdot]

there are too many students in mmu already and it's one of the lowest ranked universities in the country. other than that i have nothing wrong with them expanding massively. it's not like this country needs to cut back on its public spending after the biggest financial crisis in 80 years and of course there's no room in higher education for massive cutbacks is there. the proper universities are doing fine aren't they, it's not like the former polys are robbing them of their public funding in order to get labour cheap votes and obtain its mythical 50% higher education attendance is it.
/end sarcasm

[Cherguevara]

Originally Posted by Comdot

there are too many students in mmu already and it's one of the lowest ranked universities in the country. other than that i have nothing wrong with them expanding massively. it's not like this country needs to cut back on its public spending after the biggest financial crisis in 80 years and of course there's no room in higher education for massive cutbacks is there. the proper universities are doing fine aren't they, it's not like the former polys are robbing them of their public funding in order to get labour cheap votes and obtain its mythical 50% higher education attendance is it.
/end sarcasm

Comdot, far be it from me to call you an idiot but you're talking out of your arse. This isn't an expansion, it's a rationalisation of their existing sites into two (or three if you count Crewe) to improve their facillities and hopefully make them a bit better as a university. MMU is never going to be Oxford, there's no reason that their students shouldn't benefit from improved facillities.

[Comdot]

i knew one of the mmu fans would come and give me a bash for that.

ok so i forgot that it was a rationalisation of their campuses but why do they have the money to do this. it is also true that mmu is expanding rapidly. or trying to.

the rest of my argument still stands. they are not oxford but what's that got to do with anything. there are many good universities that are lower ranked than oxford. i can talk til the cows come home about how low quality former polytechnics are and how they are poorly spent money used to seek a crowd-pleasing 50% HE target at vast cost to school students but i think i've said my bit. wait til the tories are in. maybe.

[Cherguevara]

I'm not much of an MMU fan. I'd certainly never go there, but that doesn't mean it doesn't serve a useful purpose. Who else is going to train the teachers, social workers, youth workers etc. we need?

You do have a point about whether university funding should be a priority now, but we need those people just as much as the scientists from Manchester or the Doctors from Birmingham or the Classicists from Cambridge, and if MMU thinks it can afford this (presumably its banking on resale of its other sites to get some of that money back when the economy picks up) then I don't see what there is to complain about?

EDIT: I should probably point out I don't think you're an idiot.

[Comdot]

[dd528]

Originally Posted by Comdot

i knew one of the mmu fans would come and give me a bash for that.

ok so i forgot that it was a rationalisation of their campuses but why do they have the money to do this. it is also true that mmu is expanding rapidly. or trying to.

the rest of my argument still stands. they are not oxford but what's that got to do with anything. there are many good universities that are lower ranked than oxford. i can talk til the cows come home about how low quality former polytechnics are and how they are poorly spent money used to seek a crowd-pleasing 50% HE target at vast cost to school students but i think i've said my bit. wait til the tories are in. maybe.

I'm pretty sure most of the expansion at MMU since it became a University has been through the assimilation of other, smaller, pre-existing institutions. The Crewe campus is one, and wasn't their physio department already an independent college?

Yeah, it's one of the country's biggest universities, but I think that largely reflects how attractive Manchester is to young people. Every university in the city has high application levels. Plus, MMU offers many courses that are simply not available at other institutions in Manchester. You might well argue that many of these are inherited from its polytechnic days, but surely they don't cost any more to run, just because their institution has had a different label slapped on it?

There are questions to be asked about the value of a degree in an academic subject such as history or English from a university such as MMU, but I think the majority of the courses it offers are not so rigidly academic. And just because they are more vocational, doesn't mean they're necessarily less valuable (economically or educationally). Plus, it seems to be creeping slowly up the rankings, so who knows where it'll be by the time it's had 30 years of university status? If it demonstrates even half of the forward thinking that's in place at Manchester Uni then it might well come on leaps and bounds.

I think a lot of the departments there have good reputations - education and theatre in particular - and it attracts people to the city. Besides, Julie Walters went there, so it can't be all bad

In general I think any cutbacks in higher education should be distributed pretty evenly over all institutions. If there is one reform that I think is really necessary it's a better delineation of the boundaries in objectives and teaching methods between more and less academic courses. That is definitely a problem at MMU, but I think that's more the fault of government policy than of the institution itself.

[flange]

Green light for Manchester Met’s £120m ‘super campus’

12:27 | 02.07.09





Manchester City Council has approved the masterplan for a £120m ‘sustainable super-campus’ for Manchester Metropolitan University.

The 237,000 sq ft development will be developed at Birley Fields, the site of the biggest slum clearance in Europe during the 1960s.

Designed by architecture practice John McAslan & partners, the research centre is intended to be ‘an environmentally sustainable campus and a test bed for research and evaluation of new models of sustainability within an urban environment.’

There will be large areas of open space and ‘greening’ on the 30-acre site.

The scheme is part of a £400 million investment in MMU campuses across Manchester and Cheshire.

http://www.propertyweek.com/story.as...rycode=3144041

[auntie_biotic]

As I resident of Hulme I hope to profit by the MMU having its campus built in Hulme. I have decided to set up a forum for those of us living, working or studying in Hulme.

I have lived in Hulme for over 20 years and am tired of hearing about events some sponsored by the council after they have happened.

Tax payers money is usually used to fund these events and yet not all local people are informed.

My forum is to build a community of past and present HULMEES who can inform others on everything from whats on in Hulme, to local news to people wanting flat/houseshare.

If I cant find out whats going on how are students from the other side of the country going to cope?

I dont hold up much hope of Hulme people being given decent jobs. Take the ASDA model. The shop floor staff tend to be local blacks, whilst the better paid jobs appear to go to mainly white out of Hulmers!

Any views, news, gossip or whinge welcomed at BEST IN HULME http://knowingabout.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

[Cherguevara]

Trying to build community spirit is always to be encouraged.

I'm thinking of moving to Hulme (when I return to Manchester for post graduate study in September). Any tips?

[auntie_biotic]

Hulme is very different from when I moved here in the 80s, its much safer, cleaner and generally standard of life has improved.

When I first moved to Hulme I lived in the notorious BULLRINGS you had to shake your shoes and trousers in the morning to empty them of cockroches!

I cant advise on clubs etc, but I've made you a member of my forum and over the next few weeks and months I hope to have some ideas for you so keep checking and feel free to ask anything about Hulme there.

PS Good luck with your studies

[CDX]

Originally Posted by auntie_biotic

Any views, news, gossip or whinge welcomed at BEST IN HULME http://knowingabout.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl

Ever thought of using a more memorable web address for your forum? A domain name that includes 'Hulme' might be more noticed & remembered?

[auntie_biotic]

Thx for that. But times are hard financially. I own knowingabout.co.uk and the website I am working on will be knowingabout.co.uk/bestinhulme. im hoping people will bookmark and when finances are better I can buy better domain name and redirect to it. I do get your point tho.

cheers

[auntie_biotic]

CDX

"Ever thought of using a more memorable web address for your forum? A domain name that includes 'Hulme' might be more noticed & remembered?"

Thought again about your comment
I have placed the index page of the website BEST IN HULME http://knowingabout.co.uk/bestinhulme/index.html online and am working on it at present. The website page and forum have links to each other and yes, the forum name is a bit longwinded as present but beggers such myself cant be choosers and I hope the content of the forum for now makes up for inconvenience

[Irish Blood English Heart]

I used to live on Bonsall Street and Mallow Street in Hulme, loved living there it's a great place though could do with more shops on Stretford Road, am cautiously happy about the University development as I think it will bring more life and business to the area (are those business park buildings still empty near Asda?), but hope it doesn't lose all it's character and become another Fallowfield with absentee landlords and nothing but student lets.

[auntie_biotic]

Good point Irish about absentee landlords. Hope that doesnt happen. From what I've seen a lot of the business park is empty. Those that are open are unknown to us residents ie who they are and what they do etc.

PS Irish: shocked but love your myspace wallpaper

[auntie_biotic]

I,ve just had a post in my forum saying the only reason the MMU has decided to come to hulme is because they basically had no choice. Maybe they realised Hulme would be the perfect location due to its proximity to city center and Oxford Road Campus.

[djay]

as i understand, the reason for hulme came about because of opposition in didsbury to campus expansion