Published at 10:46, Monday, 17 December 2012

Plans that could see more than 500 students, whose courses currently run in Carlisle and Lancaster, return to Ambleside by 2014 have been unveiled to the public.

The draft planning application for the University of Cumbria’s Ambleside campus will be open to public consultation until early next year.

The revival follows uncertainty over the site’s future after it was mothballed by university bosses in 2009.

If all goes according to plan, building work could begin in late spring and the students could begin to return to the campus next year. University bosses say there could be between 500 and 550 students in Ambleside by 2014.

These students will be a mix of undergraduates and enterprise students, on short courses, mainly on one of the outdoor studies programmes.

The university said the students are looking forward to being able to study at the new-look campus.

The plans, which were unveiled on Friday and are due to be formally submitted in January, would see the Charlotte Mason Library and Barn Theatre refurbished and several buildings demolished in 2013. Landscaping work and major external alterations to Scale How House would dramatically change the appearance of the campus in 2014.

The plans are due to be put online for people unable to attend the two-day consultation in person and will run until January 6.

Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk