The University of Ulster today welcomed the announcement by the Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland that he is bringing forward fresh regeneration plans for the northern end of Belfast city centre following the granting of planning permission for the Belfast City Campus.
After Minister McCausland instructed officials to work on new Streets Ahead plans for the northern end of the city centre, Pro Vice-Chancellor Development Professor Alastair Adair said: "The University has always believed our new Belfast City Campus can be transformative.
"The new campus can have a transformative effect for higher education,especially though widening access to disadvantaged communities and by providing future generations of University of Ulster students the opportunity to study in a state-of-the-art learning environment in the heart of the city.
"It can be transformative for the neighbouring communities around us, providing educational, cultural and business opportunities.
"It can be transformative for business - bringing world class research and part-time learning opportunities into the heart of the city as well as potential opportunities for commerce and social enterprise.
"It can positively transform the look and feel of the city for the better.Minister McCausland's announcement that Department of Social Development (DSD) officials have been instructed to work on a new phase of the Streets Ahead programme recognises the capacity of the campus to transformthe northern edge of the city centre and the benefit for the wider city and the region.
"We would like to acknowledge the imaginative way DSD has responded to the opportunities presented by the Belfast City Campus and its ongoing support for the project. We wish them well with the new phase of Streets Ahead.
"This announcement, coupled with the granting of planning permission in March for the BelfastCity Campus by DoE Planning and Belfast city councillors, sends out the right message about central and local government's capacity to grasp major opportunities to transform Belfast and Northern Ireland for all of its citizens."