THE new vice-chancellor of Oxford Brookes has spoken of the £130m plan to overhaul the university.

As the institution celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, Professor Alistair Fitt outlined his vision for the next decade with an extensive building work programme.

Prof Fitt, who took over from predecessor Janet Beer at the end of January, is looking forward to major refurbishments at the Gipsy Lane and Harcourt Hill campuses, with the search on for a new site in Swindon with Brookes judged to have “outgrown” its Ferndale campus.

He said: “People sometimes say that Brookes never stops building and refurbishing, but you have to remember the average lifetime of a university building is 30 years.

“So if you have 30 buildings you’d better do one a year or you are going to fall behind. We have way more than 30. If we said no building for five years, we would not be in a good position.”

News of a 10-year investment plan will surprise some, with higher education under continuing pressure.

The vice-chancellor said: “We are not having to take out a loan. The reality is that if we do not want our university to crumble around us, we have to generate money.

“We take the money we receive from student fees and reinvest it to make sure the students’ experience here remains world class and they get value for their money.

“It is one of the reasons I like working for a university. We don’t have shareholders to keep happy.”

The university’s plans could also help with the city’s housing problems, especially as Prof Fitt served as a member of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership Board, the body that has successfully bid for millions of pounds of government investment for science and transport schemes to help economic growth.

He said: “A key problem facing Oxfordshire is the lack of affordable housing and where to build that housing.

“The interesting thing happening is that the universities, businesses and lots of stakeholders are now all sitting down together around the same table to discuss what we can do.

“The same people sat down and delivered the City Deal and the Strategic Economic Plan. I think the universities can have a big influence on that regional agenda. But if the plan is to squeeze everything into the centre of historic Oxford, it is not going to work.”

One hope is that the university has a ready-made site for new homes outside Oxford with Brookes having confirmed that it will begin moving from its Wheatley campus in 2016-17.

The vice chancellor said: “We own the land at Wheatley. There have been many suggestions about what our Wheatley campus could be used for such as a science park, a hotel or housing.

“At the moment, no options are closed to us.”