Temporary Underpass Closure and its Implications for Buses and Car Parking
The University has had to temporarily close the underpass for the ongoing construction works until further notice. The bus terminus has been relocated to Bowland Avenue outside the Chaplaincy Centre and all of Bowland Avenue has been reorganised to support the new temporary arrangements. This has implications for deliveries and car parking. Bowland Avenue is now access only for buses, deliveries, drop-offs and disabled parking. All Visitor parking has been removed and relocated to North-West Drive. A plan showing the new layout of Bowland Avenue can be viewed here
Changes to bus services
All campus bus services will stop at the new bus terminus outside the Chaplaincy Centre. Due to timing pressures, Services 3 and 4 will no longer be serving the southern, eastern and northern perimeter roads. Therefore, the bus stops at InfoLab21, Furness College and North Drive have been temporarily closed. Services 3 and 4 will stop at the Chaplaincy Centre on arrival then serve South-West Drive at the netball courts, loop around Alexandra Park before returning to the Chaplaincy Centre via South-West Drive before departing the campus. Users of the closed bus stops should use an alternative bus stop. Bus stops are now operational only at Bowland Avenue, the netball courts and the three bus stops on Alexandra Park.
Services X1, X3, X22, N1, 2, 2A and 42 will stop at Bowland Avenue only. The Sainsbury’s bus on Wednesday afternoons in term-time will now stop only at the Chaplaincy Centre. National Express services to London and Whitehaven will also now only stop at the Chaplaincy Centre. Private nightclub buses will serve the Chaplaincy Centre and perimeter road bus stops. There are at least 17 bus departures an hour from Bowland Avenue Monday – Saturday 07:30 to 18:30. Over the next few weeks new bus stops outside the new sports centre are also being provided for you to use.
Changes to car parking (Visitors, Staff and Disabled)
Visitor parking has been displaced from Bowland Avenue to North-West Drive until just beyond Rossendale Avenue. A new pay & display machine will be installed on North-West Drive this week and operational as soon as possible. The machine will accept payments by card and coin. The two parking machines in Bowland Avenue have been fixed and are available for use. Alternative parking machines can also be used. These are located at all the Visitor Car Parks on campus. Alternatively, parking tickets can be purchased from Security Reception. The Parking Zones Map has been revised to take account of the changes.
Staff parking spaces on North-West Drive have been lost as a result. Although there is still ample Staff parking on the main campus it will inevitably increase staff parking pressure on North Campus. Some staff (perhaps those that arrive late) will need to be flexible and find Staff parking elsewhere. The change has been made in the knowledge that there is ample Staff parking on the campus that is unoccupied even at peak times. It may mean walking further in some cases and we apologise for this inconvenience.
Disabled parking in Bowland Avenue is now provided in Bowland Avenue East opposite the temporary bus stop. Additional disabled bays will be provided there later this week as a result of losing the disabled parking bays elsewhere in the avenue.
Changes for deliveries and drop-offs
The Drop-off Bay outside University House has been closed to provide protection for pedestrians crossing the road at a new zebra crossing to the bus stop and to keep the roadway clear for buses. The Drop-off bay has been relocated to Bowland Avenue East opposite the new temporary bus stop and also to north side of Bowland Avenue North. It is vital that deliveries use these new locations and not stop in the roadway or in the bus stop, which is strictly prohibited and are being monitored. We apologise for the additional inconvenience that this will cause.
Changes for motorcycle parking
The Bowland Avenue motorcycle parking bay has been temporarily relocated to Bowland Avenue North near the exit to the avenue.
Advance notice of the construction compound for the refurbishment to the old Computer Centre (new HR Building)
From Monday 21st March 2011 the construction compound for this refurbishment will be placed on Bowland Avenue South to the north elevation of the old Computer Centre building. This will result in the temporary closure of 5 disabled parking bays and the redirection of traffic around the far side of the compound. Pedestrians will be provided with a protected route around the outside of the compound. The contractor will manage their deliveries within their own compound.Green Links
On Tuesday of Week 9, Green Lancaster will be holding a range of events throughout the day and evening for the environmental themed day of the university’s One World Week celebrations. This will be a chance to celebrate some of the fantastic green initiatives going on here at the university, and also to raise awareness and educate people on a range of environmental issues.
Daytime activities will culminate in a large Green Links networking event, giving students the opportunity to talk to local and national environmental organisations and companies about employment in the sector. This will coincide with an interactive presentation from Small World Consulting’s renowned author, Mike Berners-Lee, and a Future Choices employability workshop.
Confirmed events so far include:
Green Links – Sustainable Travel Day
- Receive a free breakfast for cycling or walking onto campus
- Sale of Green Lancaster's discounted new and refurbished bicycles and accessories
- Promotion of the university’s sustainable travel plan
Green Links – Networking Event
- An interactive presentation from renowned author Mike Berners-Lee
- Discussions on the impact of Carbon emissions and how best to reduce them
- A networking event involving many local and national green organisations
- Future Choices Employability Workshop
- FREE FOOD AND DRINK!
Flyers
Carbon Awareness Roadshows and Wind Turbine Support – March 2011
Following the success of previous events, further Carbon Awareness Roadshows will take place on campus over the next few weeks. Dates and locations are below, so if you didn’t have chance to come to one of the previous Carbon Awareness Roadshows you can view the information at one of the additional roadshows and talk to the University’s Environment and Sustainability Manager about the Carbon Management Plan, Travel Plan and proposed Wind Turbine Project.
The displays will be available all day and staffed each day from 12:30 to 14:30.
- Learning Zone Pod 3 – Monday 7th to Friday 11th March 2011
- Green Links Day (various locations) – Tuesday 15th March 2011
- Library A Floor – Monday 21st to Friday 25th March 2011 (TBC)
- GreenLancaster Hub – every day during normal office hours.
To view the Carbon Management Plan Executive Summary click here.
To view a leaflet about the success of the Travel Plan click here.
Facilities Newsletter
The Facilities Division has published its first newsletter summarising some of its recent successes across campus.
To view the newsletter click here
Or if you would like a printed copy of the newsletter posting to you please email l.duff@lancaster.ac.uk
EAUC Member of the Month
Following Lancaster University’s recent success as a winner of the Green Gown Award for the Eco-residences, Lancaster University has been selected as the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges (EAUC’s) member of the month for October. Visit www.eauc.org.uk/lancaster_university to view it.
Facilities - the new name for the collective of Trading Activities, Security and Estate Management
Following the Central Administration review and its restructure, Trading Activities, Security and Estate Management now make up a new division in the University, which will be known as Facilities with immediate effect led by the Director of Facilities, Mark Swindlehurst.
The new division is currently developing a combined strategy which will be presented to Council in autumn 2009. The strategy will respond to the new University Strategic Plan and provide direction for the newly formed Facilities division.
Over the next few months the Facilities management team will be meeting with faculties and other colleagues to review the service provision and to ask for input in to the development of the new Facilities Strategy.
Click here to download a PDF of the above diagram.
Alexandra Square
As part of the ongoing development of the campus, the University is embarking on an exciting new project to enhance Alexandra Square. For more information click here.
Lancaster University commits to reducing carbon emissions
Lancaster University is set to significantly reduce its carbon footprint following a £5m funding award from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The proposed project is to develop two 2.3MW wind turbines on the University’s Hazelrigg site to the east of the M6 motorway.
For more information click here to visit the Wind Turbines website.
Estates team up with student volunteers to help maintain the woodland
Estate Management has been helping student volunteers look after the University's woodland. As part of One World Week Ian Sturzaker (Landscape Manager) and Jonathan Mills (Environment & Sustainability Manager) worked with GreenLancaster's Sustainability Officers, Roz and Keegan and other student volunteers to clear a significant amount of litter from the woodlands and plant 25 native Oak trees. It is hoped that this kind of student participation can be expanded in the future by working with GreenLancaster on a programme of environmental activities throughout the year. Any students interested in voluteering should contact Ian Sturzaker in Estate Management.
Facilities get one third of its office staff cycling or walking to work
Click here to view the travel news pages for more information.
Carbon Competition Winners Get £600
A pioneering competition to encourage students at Lancaster University to cut back on energy and utility usage has been so successful that it will now be run every term. The competition involves the new Eco-Residences at Grizedale and County Colleges where students in individual townhouses competed to cut their carbon footprint to the minimum. The winners from House 91 of County College (Primrose) were so keen to cut back that they even removed the TV aerial. The 12 residents will now share the £600 prize money for cutting their emissions this term to 1,652 kg of carbon dioxide. Second and third prize winners received £300 per townhouse while the fourth, fifth and sixth received £200. Click here to view the full story.
Environment and Sustainability Manager Jon Mills was on BBC Radio Lancashire, March 12, along with the winning students in GreenLancaster’s carbon competition. Click here to listen to the interview.
Carbon Competition Winner's Ceremony
Treading lightly – The Footprint Awards Donnachadh McCarthy shows how to live a low carbon lifestyle and hands out the cash prizes to the winning eco-house residences.
As a part of Lancaster University’s One World Week, GreenLancaster has invited environment guru and eco-house dweller Donnachadh McCarthy to come and give a talk on how to live a low carbon lifestyle in a vital bid to reduce the devastating impact of climate change. Donnachadh converted his 1840’s Victorian terrace home into a retro-eco home. It has solar electric panels, solar hot water panels, a rain-harvesting system, wood–burner, wind-turbine and catalytic converter gas fire.
While it is essential to a low carbon home to use the home efficiently and ensure all the basics such as insulation and energy efficient appliances are in place, certain technologies can help. Since 2003 the house has been a net exporter of electricity but in 2006/7 Donnachadh finally achieved his dream of a carbon negative home - his house last year had a net carbon footprint of minus 114 Kg exporting more green electricity to the national grid than it imported from fossil fuels such as (gas).
GreenLancaster felt Donnachadh would be an ideal candidate to give a talk to Lancaster University staff and students and to give out the much coveted cash prizes to the top performing eco-residences in Grizedale and County. The carbon competition has provided an incentive and awareness for students and staff to really think about what they are using. Donnachadh’s led a colourful and life and is very entertaining— from being a ballet dancer to being a leading environmentalist with the Yanomami Indians in the heart of the Amazonian Rainforest and— and from eco auditor to environmental author, Donnachadh’s presentation is likely to inspire audiences to take further action in their workplaces and home lives.
Student Accommodation Wins Crime Prevention Award
New student accommodation at Lancaster University has won an award for its design which aims to deter crime. "Secured By Design" is a flagship crime prevention initiative from the Association of Chief Police Officers awarded to developments which promote safety through everything from layout to landscaping.
Research shows that "Secured by Design" can reduce burglary and car crime by 50% and criminal damage by 25%, although Lancaster is already ranked as the safest university town in the country for crime according to The Times. The award was made to both Lancaster University and the developers UPP for the new Eco Residences developments at both County and Grizedale Colleges.
Chief Supt Tim Jacques from Lancashire Constabulary presented the award to UPP's Project Manager Ian McManus and the University's Project Manager Alan Haydock.
He said: "Whilst Lancaster is very safe anyway and the campus even more so, this award is something that the University should be proud of. It's important for both students and their parents to feel secure when they come to Lancaster for the first time."
Some features of "Secured By Design" include:
* Pathways and parking areas overlooked by residents
* Landscaping low level and the development well-lit
* Windows and doors must meet strict security standards
* Well-lit staircases and lobbies and recesses and blind corners eliminated
* Good signage to deter unauthorised access
The University's Director of Estate Management Mark Swindlehurst said he was delighted with the award:.
"This award recognises the University's efforts to create student accommodation which is different and intelligently designed. The Eco-Residence was also selected as one of the UK's best environmentally sustainable buildings by BREEAM - the world's most widely used environmental assessment method."
Jan Brown is Lancaster Police's Architectural Liaison Officer and it was her job to check that both County and Grizedale complied with the "Secured by Design" standards.
She said: "Lancaster University is very safe and we aim to keep it that way through promoting good design to stop crime before it happens. Parents are very reassured when they find out how seriously we take safety, with regular talks on campus and advice for students."
UPP's Project Manager Ian McManus confirmed UPP and their architects GWP are also delighted with the award.
"Achieving this award is welcome external recognition of the careful design consideration given to this project in order to make students' time on campus as safe and enjoyable as possible."