The University of Ulster today welcomed the DoE Minister Alex Attwood's recommendation to council to approve its new £250 million Belfast city campus.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard Barnett said:"In March 2012, the University of Ulster submitted a planning application for its new £250 million Belfast city campus which will provide our students and staff with a dynamic, state of the art learning and research facility in the heart of the city.

"We believe our vision of an open and publicly accessible city campus will also have significant benefits for the city of Belfast and for Northern Ireland as a whole, including those communities around our campus - creating educational, economic, social and cultural opportunities for people of all backgrounds.

"An associated planning application was submitted last August to provide the required car parking on Frederick Street, with the opportunity for mixed use developmentwith the potential to create further local employment.

"We welcome the Minister’s recommendation to Belfast City Council which, if approved by them, allows us to bring forward our exciting plans for the Belfast City campus development.

"We will revisit the car parking issue in the light of the Minister’s concerns and we will await the outcome of the Belfast City Council Town Planning Committee meeting on 7 March 2013 before commenting further."