New university building will provide nurses and midwives for next generation

University chiefs have expressed their joy after plans for a new academic building and accommodation block were approved by councillors. Bournemouth University (BU) said the planned new home for the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences in St Paul’s Place would play a vital role in ensuring the NHS has enough nurses, midwives, physiotherapists and other healthcare workers into the future. Meanwhile a 14 storey student residence will be built at 21 Lansdowne Road, on the same site, providing 550 beds. Councillors unanimously resolved to grant planning permission, although some details are still being discussed with planning officers.The building will sit on the corner of the St Paul’s roundabout in the Wessex Way, and is intended to act as a landmark for the gateway into the university’s Lansdowne site and the town centre.It will feature state-of-the-art teaching space, clinical skills labs and facilities to develop students for a career in healthcare, as well as a plaza with pedestrian links to other parts of the town and to public transport.Also, there will be a library, catering facilities and a ‘social collaborative learning space’.The Faculty of Health and Social Sciences – currently located across three different BU buildings on the Lansdowne site – works in partnership with more than one-third of local authorities in England.Construction is scheduled to begin in 2017, with both buildings opening in September 2019.