Telford Rural Polytechnic has some big projects in the offing.
A dedicated lecture theatre to hold the full student body, extra classrooms, parking spaces and more land for the equine unit are all on the cards.
Minutes from a recent Telford finance committee show plans are well advanced for a $450,000 covered arena for the equine unit, while growing student numbers there have prompted a call for an extra 9ha of land for the new arena and grazing.
A report from academic director Lynne Johnston stressed the need for extra teaching space and tutorial facilities to enable Telford to teach the increased student numbers on campus, to accommodate the extra tutors needed both there and at its off-campus sites and to house the extra teaching resources.
The needs include a dedicated lecture theatre, two laboratories, four extra offices, a 30-student classroom, interview room, toilets, car-parking and covered walkways.
The committee agreed the proposal be included in Telford's investment plan document, with the need for priorities to be identified.
Meanwhile, a report from the equine unit also recommends large-scale investment as the growth in that area has left its facilities stretched. It asks for a storage shed, a covered arena and improvements made to the existing external arena, a horse truck and also about 16ha of extra land over the next two years.
• Enrolments for on-campus Telford courses are down compared with the same time last year.
A report to the polytechnic council this week reveals 76 students have been enrolled as of last week - down on the figure of 102 for the same time last year.
Numbers are on a par in most courses except for the certificate in agriculture, which has 34 confirmed starters in 2009, down 20 on the same time last year.
Enrolments for most courses will close in December.
