New venture will see phases four, five and six developed

A decade-long programme is being put together for a major expansion of Peterborough’s university.Peterborough City Council chiefs have confirmed they are working on proposals for three new phases of the £30 million ARU Peterborough campus off Bishop’s Road.

The goal is to create a large, publicly accessible campus with various facilities from specialist teaching to sport and leisure.

If approved, the plans will see the university expand to cover the area at Riverside North that is currently occupied by football pitches, running track and the closed regional pool.The proposals for phases four, five and six will be included in the new Local Plan 2023 to 2044, which is currently being drawn up by the local authority.

Plans are being drawn up for a decade long expansion of ARU Peterborough

placeholder image — Plans are being drawn up for a decade long expansion of ARU Peterborough

A spokesperson said: "The third phase of the university is scheduled to open in September this year, and we are now turning our attention to the final three phases of university development. "The council, Combined Authority and Anglia Ruskin University, as joint owners of the development, have agreed to put planning in place for all three of phases four, five and six.

"The scope of this is currently being worked out, to ensure that not only will the development continue to be of exceptionally high quality, but also that the access and parking arrangements (for example) are appropriate.

“Once the scope has been agreed, we will gather the technical evidence that will be needed to support the planning process.

He added: “The university area is allocated in the currently-adopted Local Plan, and we intend to continue with that allocation in the emerging Local Plan - which is due to be subject to public consultation at the end of this summer.

This map shows the area selected for the expanded ARU Peterborough campus - the Riverside North Policy Area – the blue area of the embankment, which includes the football pitches, running track, and regional pool

The objective was outlined by the council’s chief executive Matt Gladstone in an essay written along with ARU Peterborough principal Ross Renton and Combined Authority chief executive Rob Bridge.

Mr Gladstone states: “A 10-year-programme business case and planning application is being developed to support further expansion across a large area of land identified in the Local Plan.

"This provides a vision for a large, publicly accessible campus with a range of key facilities from specialist teaching to sport and leisure.”

The first phase of ARU Peterborough was opened in September 2022 when the first undergraduates arrived.

The second phase – a manufacturing and innovation research hub opened in 2023 – and a third phase – a publicly accessible Living Lab - is due to open later this year.

The creation of the university was the culmination of decades of hard work and earlier this year Peterborough businessman John Hill received the OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours list in recognition of his services to small businesses, to local economic development and to higher education – in particular for his work overcoming the obstacles that for 20 years had prevented the establishment of a university in Peterborough, which was a recognised higher education ‘cold spot’.

Mr Hill devised what was a new approach to the local delivery of higher education with the design of a university focused entirely on people from the Peterborough region that would be educated and stay to work in the city.