DARTFORD: Community campus at centre of £500m development opens (From News Shopper)

DARTFORD: Community campus at centre of £500m development opens

2:05pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

A CAMPUS with a school, healthcare facilities and community centre has opened at the heart of a £500m development.

Dartford Bridge Learning and Community Campus at the centre of The Bridge development was officially opened last Tuesday (March 16).

The campus includes a primary school, nursery, and healthcare and social services facilities for children and adults, as well as a sports hall, youth centre, community room.

It will be run by Kent County Council’s (KCC) and cost £10m to build, with funding from Dartford Council and developers ProLogis Developments and George Wimpey.

KCC cabinet member for regeneration and economic development Councillor Kevin Lynes, Dartford Council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite and celebrity designer Wayne Hemingway opened the building.

Cllr Kite said: “This day marks the culmination of a huge amount of hard work to bring about this truly unusual and distinctive facility in what is becoming a landmark community for Dartford.”

The 264-acre Bridge development will provide 1,500 homes and 7,500 jobs, and is expected to be complete in the next three years.

Cllr Lynes said: “As more people move into the new homes, the campus will grow to suit their needs as we are putting the infrastructure in place before more housing is built.

“It is economical, green and the sign of things to come as local people will be able to educate their children, go to evening class or jump on the bus to Bluewater, Dartford and Ebbsfleet, all from one place.”

Local families and representatives from the organisations involved in the campus attended the opening ceremony, and a bay tree was planted in the garden to mark the occasion.

The school on the campus, Dartford Bridge Community Primary, has been open since September last year and has around 60 pupils.

As well as being used for the services on site, the campus can also be hired out to community groups, with the Beacon Church already signed up to use it for meetings on Sundays.