OUR VIEW: Spin offs abound as education venture steps up | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

CONFIRMATION that Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Waikato University are pushing ahead with plans to develop a joint campus in downtown Tauranga is great news for the city.

Waikato University vice-chancellor Professor Roy Crawford this week said his council had approved further investigation into a CBD-based presence in Tauranga through the partnership with the polytechnic.

Any new campus would focus on what has been described as "high-value" degree offerings, in areas such as law, business, computing, environmental sciences and Maori economic development.

The project would be dependent on Tertiary Education Commission funding, based on domestic student growth, third party investment and regional support.

We can only hope that all the required factors fall in to place, as a new campus in the heart of the city would have countless positive spin-offs for Tauranga and the wider Western Bay.

For starters, any influx of students in the inner-city would help Tauranga further shed the outdated moniker of "God's waiting room", that in many other respects, the city left behind years ago.

There's also the obvious economic benefits - with more young people in the city's CBD, there should be an accompanying jump in bars, cafeterias and retail outlets.

Despite the rigours of meeting study and living costs on sometimes limited incomes, students still tend to be quick to get out their wallets.

Students who spend a significant amount of time studying in the Bay will also hopefully be won over by the region's lifestyle and will elect to remain in the area once their studies are completed, provided there are employment opportunities available for them.

Having new graduates, armed with the latest in academic thinking, settling down and working in the Western Bay will only serve to add to the area's academic credentials, already boosted through the Intercoast marine research joint venture between Waikato University and Germany's Bremen University.

It's also good to see the polytechnic and university working in tandem with Priority One, Smartgrowth, Tauranga City Council, Western Bay of Plenty District Council and Environment Bay of Plenty to pinpoint the region's main needs in terms of educational and research development.

If the Western Bay's civic and business leaders are serious about ensuring continued growth, and for Tauranga to flourish as one of New Zealand's largest urban areas, it's increasingly important that the city is able to provide world-class educational facilities.