Campus set to close next year: report

The State Government has confirmed it will look to close the Pilbara Institute’s South Hedland campus next year and operate exclusively out of Pundulmurra.

In its final report into the consolidation of Hedland’s two higher education campuses, the State Government found South Hedland’s ageing campus required more than $30 million in upgrades to remain viable.

By contrast, the report said more than $27 million of upgrade and construction works had already either been committed or completed at Pundulumurra.

These include a completed $12 million upgrade to its trade workshops, $12 million in funding for a new health services training facility and $3.5 million funding for general upgrades at the campus.

The report also recommended a further $1 million be spent to upgrade student computing and internet access facilities.

Pilbara Institute managing director Marlene Boundy welcomed the report.

“The opportunity to relocate our work teams into one consolidated and upgraded campus is very exciting, ” she said

“In the next few years, we will see a revitalised Pundulmurra campus, including the construction of new state-of-the-art training facilities to complement the multi-million dollar trades training workshops already there.”

The report comes as the institute last year posted a $2.4 million deficit.

The report said consolidation had been necessary in the wake of reduced student numbers since 2012, which had been caused by a range of factors.

These included fewer employment opportunities in the region as a result of “the ongoing mining activity downturn”, a reduction in new apprentices and a reduction in the local population.

It also said the State Government’s policy focus on trade and employment related “priority skills areas” had reduced student numbers in non-priority courses, such as arts.

The report recommended closing the South Hedland campus by semester two in 2016 once the new health training facility was completed at Pundulmurra.

It also recommended consulting “key stakeholders” about what the old South Hedland campus could be redeveloped into.