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CCAD hopes £11m university investment will drive Hartlepool creative sector

Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD) is investing £11m in its university-level campus in Hartlepool.

The northern arts college is building additional studio and teaching space, which it hopes will be a keystone in the regeneration of the Victorian Church Street area as a centre for innovation and the creative industries.

The college is working in close partnership with Hartlepool Borough Council and last month submitted plans for a creative enterprise facility in the Grade II Listed former post office on Whitby Street.

The site houses up to 100 creative professionals in 31 new startup businesses, due to open later in 2018.

The university-level campus also has plans for growth over the coming years, with further degrees and student accommodation in the pipeline, which will reinforce its track record as the premier specialist art college in the north.

Martin Raby, Principal, Cleveland College of Art and Design, said: “I’m delighted that this project will enable the college to expand whilst offering exceptional quality new facilities to students, who will enjoy a highly appealing studio environment, as befits undergraduates at one of the few specialist schools of art in the country.”

Pat Chapman, Head of Employability and External Relations at CCAD, said: “Our new studios and teaching facilities are an expression of confidence in the future, not only in the college but in the creative sector in the north of England.

“These facilities will provide us with the chance to develop and expand the creative education offer that the college is so successful at delivering at the moment, with the creation of new and refreshed facilities for both students and the community in our existing campus around Church Square.

“The college itself now will form an anchor at both ends of the creative cluster and is part of the exciting development of the creative industries sector based around Church Street in Hartlepool, which the college - working closely with Hartlepool Borough Council - has been developing.”

Councillor Kevin Cranney, chair of Hartlepool Council’s Regeneration Services Committee, added: “Hartlepool Council is delighted to be working in partnership with Cleveland College of Art & Design on this magnificent new college campus and other significant developments for the area.

“The development is an integral part of our ambition to create a thriving creative industries sector in the Church Street area where students from our local colleges can hone their skills, creating employment and future prosperity for the town.

“To facilitate the new college, the Council has relocated its Lynn Street depot and over the coming months there will be major investment in the Church Street and Church Square area to significantly enhance and regenerate a key part of the town.”

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