Plans go in UCLan’s new veterinary medicine school

Impression of UCLan's School of Veterinary Medicine building pic: Wilson Mason LLP — Impression of UCLan’s School of Veterinary Medicine building Pic: Wilson Mason LLP

Plans have been submitted for the erection of a four-storey university building to form part of a veterinary medicine school at UCLan.

The site is located in the city centre and is currently used as a surface car park. It will be positioned adjacent to the existing Greenbank Building on Victoria Street which will be refurbished together with the proposed development to form the school.

The scope of the proposed new 45,000 square feet building comprises the following:

Seminar Rooms
Clinical Skills Suites
Mock Theatres
Study Suites
Dry Anatomy Rooms
Laboratories for Science and Microscopy
Plant Room

The new veterinary school provision at the University of Central Lancashire will partner with a number of local, regional, and national employers to enhance graduate employability and meet the needs of employers across a range of industries.

On a wider scale, increased numbers of veterinary students will help to support the recognised shortage of approximately 11-13% of veterinary surgeons across the UK and at full capacity anticipated to be by 2029/2030.

The school will offer a range of approximately ten undergraduate and postgraduate courses.

Dr Heather Bacon OBE, Head of UCLan’s School of Veterinary Medicine, said: “The planning application takes us closer to achieving our ambition to create a technologically advanced veterinary school.

“The new school will play a major role in developing the veterinary practitioners and leaders of the future and supporting economic growth in the north.

“We’re incredibly excited to open the first Vet School in Lancashire, which will offer students state-of-the-art training facilities, and the highest of education and professional standards.”

On behalf of the applicant, Cushman and Wakefield said: “The proposed development has been designed to a high quality, contemporary standard which reflects the wider university campus and UCLan’s most recent projects; the Engineering Innovation Centre and the Student Centre located at Adelphi Square.

“The development also creates a new accessible pedestrian route through the site from Harrington Street to the south. The surface car parking currently located to the rear of the building will be removed and the area will be landscaped with a new interconnecting public realm.”

The existing number of on-site parking spaces are 90, as part of the proposed development two disabled car parking spaces and one standard parking space will be retained and a sheltered cycle locker will be provided.

This reflects the accessible nature of the site, the availability of alternative parking arrangements in the vicinity of the site, and low demand for car parking from the end users of the site.