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Money 'not yet in place' to redevelop Magee sites

BBC Paul Bartholomew in a suit at Ulster University's Londonderry-Derry campusBBC
Professor Paul Bartholomew says redeveloping five riverfront sites for the expansion of the campus in Londonderry will take time

Funding is "not yet in place" to redevelop five riverfront sites in Londonderry which have been earmarked to help Ulster University (UU) reach 10,000 students at the Derry campus, its vice-chancellor has said.

The land was bought in December last year from businessman Garvan O'Doherty as part of expansion plans for the campus, formerly known as Magee.

On Thursday, Economy Minister Dr Caoimhe Archibald said UU now had the land it needed to expand, following the additional purchase of the Timber Quay office block on the Strand Road.

Professor Paul Bartholomew said Timber Quay will eventually cater for up to 700 students, but redeveloping the other riverfront sites would take time.

'We don't have a crystal ball'

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today on Friday morning, Mr Bartholomew said the acquisition of the Timber Quay site was a "good news story" for their immediate expansion plans, but that long-term goals for the other sites would need further scrutiny.

"We have just bought land and the land is there as an option," he said.

"As I said, we don't have a crystal ball in terms of the shape of the growth going forwards, but we certainly need land to accommodate whatever we are going to do.

"Of course, buildings take a long time to build and the overall funding for that endeavour isn't yet in place as we know, we are going year-by-year, but this is a good news story for what we need to do for our growth this coming year.

"We are already full on our campus, so we need Timber Quay for this coming September."

Ulster University Northland Road entrance
The expansion of the campus in Derry is seen by many in the north west as a key economic driver for the region

The most recent purchase comes after a report on boosting student numbers at the campus was published last year.

The report said the increase to 10,000 students by 2032 would help address regional imbalance and be "transformative" for the north west region.

The university currently has about 5,335 students enrolled in its Derry campus this academic year.

Paul Bartholomew said the total number of students will surpass 6,000 in the 2025/26 academic year with the Timber Quay site.

A 10,000 student target in Derry was included in New Decade, New Approach, (NDNA), which restored Northern Ireland's power-sharing executive in 2020.

It stated that both the UK and Irish governments would aim to financially support that expansion target.

A commitment to expand the campus "to accommodate" 10,000 student numbers was also included in Stormont's programme of government, which was agreed by the NI Executive on Thursday.

Previously, some residents near the university campus expressed concerns over the impact increasing student numbers without suitable accommodation would have on the surrounding residential area.

The group, Concerned Residents Around Magee (CRAM) had called on the council to cap the number of houses in multiple occupation (HMO).

A house in multiple occupation is a property rented out by at least three people who share facilities like the bathroom and kitchen, also referred to as a "house share".