NI Executive has ‘no plan’ for Coleraine university campus - DUP MLA tells Stormont committee
The Executive has no plans to grow Ulster University’s Coleraine campus – a situation which is creating an “imbalance”, a Stormont committee has heard.
DUP MLA Maurice Bradley raised the issue during Thursday’s sitting of the communities committee – where student union leaders were briefing MLAs on a Student Rent and Affordability Report.
Mr Bradley said: “In my own constituency we have a spanking university campus which is never mentioned…
“We have no land issues, plenty of sports ground available on campus, we have a halls of residence on campus – but we have no plans in the Executive to grow Coleraine.
“Therein lies the problem. £6.6m removed from the university’s finance and £7.7m earmarked to Magee. It creates an imbalance”.
The East Londonderry MLA asked the student representatives – all three of whom had studied at the Coleraine campus at various staged – how they would see progression for all of Northern Ireland’s university campuses.
Ben Friel from the NUS-USI union, who is from Coleraine, said: “I really support regional balance. I think regional balance is super important. I think being able to invest in all our campuses is crucial to moving forward”.
He also said an increase in the cost of student accommodation in Northern Ireland is fuelling what Mr Bradley had described as a “brain drain” – where students are opting to move to Great Britain for studies.
Mr Friel welcomed a recent 20% increase in maintenance loans – but said student support in Northern Ireland “lags behind mainland UK”.