The Moreton Bay Regional Council wants to develop a university campus in Petrie.

It’s already working with several tertiary bodies and has the backing of some planning experts.

Gizelle Ghidella reports.

TRANSCRIPT

The sixty-five year old paper mill in Petrie could be the site for a campus for 19,000 students.

Moreton Bay Regional Council put its proposal to community leaders today.

Allan Sutherland, Moreton Bay Mayor: “I’m looking forward to all our kids in this region having a bright future.”

The region expects to be home to 800,000 people within 15 years and many believe it’s a prime location.

Bernard Salt, Planning expert: “20,000 students travelling out of this region to a university elsewhere in Brisbane there is simply no other place in the Australian continent.”

There are limited tertiary facilities now and the council is pushing hard for more.

Allan Sutherland, Moreton Bay Mayor: “We’ll have a population larger than Tasmania in the next few years and we’ve got two small campuses that quite honestly can’t provide us into the future.”

Residents think a university in the mill is a brilliant idea.

Vox 1: “I have a son who studies at UQ in the City and we live in this area so he travels very far in the morning.”

Vox 2: “They don’t have to leave home, they can stay home forever.”

While it’s a dusty old paper mill, the Mayor hopes it will transform into a bright education facility for the Moreton Bay region.

The council won’t say which universities it has approached for backing, but expects to be enrolling students in five years.

Gizelle Ghidella, QUT News.