UNIVERSITY CAMPUS FEATURE: All parties are urged to work together to make the dream of building a university campus in Swindon come true. GILES SHELDRICK reports

THE man charged with promoting the econ-omic prosperity of Swindon and Wiltshire has rubbished claims he is ignoring the town's bid for a university.

Phillip Watkins, the South West Regional Development Agency's head of operations for Swindon and Wiltshire, says he wholeheartedly supports plans for an 8,000-student campus in the town but bickering about where it should be built needs to be left to a public inquiry.

First he says the consortium bidding for Government cash, which includes representatives from Swindon Council, the University of Bath, the Higher Education Funding Council, SWRDA and the town's two MPs, has to convince Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott of Swindon's need for a university campus.

A detailed business plan will be submitted to Whitehall in September, which treasury boffins will trawl through before making a decision on whether to hand over at least £50 million for the first phase of the project.

Central to its success will be how far the business plan recognises the development of brownfield sites redundant plots of town centre land.

But it is only once this Government cash has been secured that the debate can start on where the university should finally go.

Mr Watkins said: "I get annoyed when we are told the RDA is not doing anything we have always been supportive of the University of Bath in Swindon and it's evident the case doesn't have to be made there needs to be a higher education offered in Swindon.

"The RDA is not the primary funding source for higher education institutions, but where there is an economic aspect and commercial spin-off we can help.

"And the only way this is going to happen is by making a special case for funding from central Government, which is why we are helping to finance a business plan to the tune of £100,000.

"It would be madness to do anything other than support the ambitions of the university, but the first thing to do is to get the funding. The Government isn't bothered about the specifics of sites it's bothered about there being more higher education provision in Wiltshire and we are part of a partnership to get this special pot of money from the Government."

The RDA says it is only interested in helping Swindon become the "engine of the south west" and that means regenerating the town centre in line with the aims of the New Swindon Company.

To that end the RDA wants to see a dual university site, with as much regeneration of Swindon's town centre as possible. But they say they are not averse to seeing part of a campus at Coate the University of Bath's favoured location. A public inquiry will probably determine where the university will go.

Rumours abound that the SWRDA favours a new university in Cornwall ahead of Swindon, an allegation given further credence with the news Cornwall will receive EU funding of £300 million until 2006. Swindon is not part of this regional partnership.

Mr Watkins said: "We are not looking to support any university over the University of Bath. We understand the synergy the university wishes to achieve with the hospital, but we can't ignore the wider associated development and that which could adversely affect the NSC.

"I am not completely against Coate at all, but it's part of a package. Asking us to comment on Coate is asking us to state that something is either black or white, when at the moment there are still lots of subtleties to be resolved.

"We are not resisting the Coate site at all, but it would be harder for us to support it. The case at the present time is not about sites, but about Higher Education funding. But there is no substance whatsoever that there are competing funding packages we are making a specific case for higher education in Swindon."

No-one from the University of Bath was available to comment.

Giles Sheldrick