City of Busselton council gave the green light for Central Queensland University to take on the lease at the old visitor centre in Busselton to use as a study hub.
The city will lease the property to the university for a period of five years, almost one year after CQU first opened at the Busselton Community Resource Centre.
This new location will provide greater visibility and accessibility to students along with more space for teaching and learning.
The CQU Busselton Regional Advisory Group worked hard to support and guide the growth of the university for the past year.
Regional Advisory Group chairman Peter Gordon said the relocation was an important milestone for the university.
Mr Gordon said after many years of looking at higher education opportunities in the region, it was exciting to see CQU growing strong.
“It is a great outcome for the university and for the people of the South West,” he said.
CQU study hub coordinator Angela Bancilhon said the community response to the university establishing a study hub in Busselton had been overwhelmingly positive.
Ms Banchilon said the university intended to turn this property into a vibrant and welcoming space for students to study and connect with each other.
“The building will make an ideal learning hub and we are very excited about the relocation,” she said.
Busselton CQU student Allie McGrath said the university had given her access to a wide range of courses having returned to study as a mature age student..
“A new and expanded study hub on Peel Terrace is very exciting,” she said.
City of Busselton mayor Grant Henley said that growing educational opportunities in the South West was a priority for the council.
“This is a great outcome and I want to thank all those involved in its realisation,” he said.
“I also want to pay homage to former councillor Tom Tuffin who played an important role in attracting the higher education sector to the South West in the first instance.”
CQU was recognised as one of the top 100 young universities in the world by The Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The university has more than 30,000 students in Australia and delivers more than 300 programs from Certificate I to PhD level.
They also offer STEPS, an enabling course that provides an alternate pathway for people to gain entry to and excel at university.