For some members who haven't heard about it, the prospect of a 'SWISS
Centre' in Ipswich might sound bizarre. It is in fact the ingenious
name for the proposed new sixth form college, as we old-fashioned people
might have put it, serving South-West Ipswich and South Suffolk. (Get
it?) Anyway, the Society has written to Suffolk County Council to make
these criticisms.
"We are delighted to see your proposals for the new centre; it will
bring a welcome revolution for the education of our young people in the
catchment areas involved. However, we do have a major concern for this
site. We believe it should be in the Education Quarter on the Ipswich
Waterfront. We make the following points in support of our argument:
"Transportation: The only mode of transport to access this site is road.
Ipswich residents would not cycle out there and clearly there is no rail
station. We accept there is a frequent bus service from the town
centre, but none from any other part of Ipswich. The age of the
students means they will not be attending for a standard school day
which could be served by school buses at the start and end of the day.
They will use regular transport and this in practice will mean motorised
vehicles -- cars, or worse, two-wheelers. It is therefore logical, and
planning for a sustainable future, to place it in the centre of the
transport system.
"Infrastructure: We believe it is important that the SWISS Centre should
be close to the Further Education College and University Campus Suffolk.
There will be many obvious synergies that would be more readily
developed if they were all in the same quarter.
"Local Plan: We understood that, in the adopted Ipswich Local Plan,
Further Educational developments were to take place in the zoned
Education Quarter.
"As this proposed development remains just outside the Borough boundary,
it is not easy for us to influence your decision. We would, however, be
grateful if you would let us know on what grounds it was decided to
build it on the outskirts of the town and whether it remains possible to
change it."
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