Institute Happy With Corbans Site Decision

28 March 2002

UNITEC in Auckland says it's happy with the Waitakere City Council's decision last night not to offer the Corbans Winery Estate as a site for tertiary education.

Both UNITEC and AUT put forward proposals to the City Council last year to develop the site. UNITEC already runs programmes in Waitakere from premises in the Henderson CBD and is committed to further development in Waitakere from 2003.

UNITEC CEO Dr John Webster said the City Council clearly supported the directions in which UNITEC had chosen to develop in Waitakere, and he was comfortable with the Corbans decision. He said the Corbans site was not ideal for development as a tertiary education institution.

"When we began to put together a serious proposal for the site we realised there were very real problems with access, and that using Corbans for all the students we expect to be enrolled at UNITEC Waitakere 10 years from now would involve some rather intensive development. So the proposal we finally put to the City Council envisaged using the site as only one element of a major urban campus based in central Henderson.

"The present City Council is clearly willing to support that kind of development," Dr Webster said, "and its decision to reserve the Corbans site for arts and cultural development is entirely understandable."

Last night the council unanimously decided that the Corbans estate should be used primarily for arts and cultural activities, with the Waitakere Arts and Cultural Development Trust as the principal tenant.

Mayor Bob Harvey also foreshadowed significant joint venture activity in the near future between UNITEC and the Council. Some discussions have already taken place on the possible joint venture development of a new library next to the UNITEC Waitakere campus in Ratanui Street.

"Our commitment to further development in Waitakere is unchanged, as is our willingness to work with the Arts and Cultural Development Trust in appropriate ways," Dr Webster said. "I think we have every reason to be pleased that our genuine commitment to Waitakere City has been recognised. The decision means that we can now plan with confidence for the next phase of our development in Waitakere."

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