By Andrew Argo, education reporter

ABERTAY UNIVERSITY is taking more time to figure out whether it should stay in Dundee or move to Perth or Fife.

The university’s court decided yesterday to carry out more detailed options appraisals about whether it should continue to develop its city-centre campus or controversially quit the city that has been its home for over a century.

The governing body and its sub-committees met yesterday for the first formal opportunity to discuss the implications of its unsuccessful bid in December for planning permission for an £18 million, 500-bed accommodation block for students next to its campus.

The university staked a lot—including £1 million in preparation costs—on the application for the Parker Street site being approved.

It would have been a key part of the estates strategy for a growing institute and the university thought its full planning application would have been granted in light of the support of the council’s director of planning, the site’s recommendation by the city council and its zoning for housing.

Councillors voted the scheme down, however, and this prompted Abertay to review the location of its entire operations given the university’s need for more space to develop into the future and to replace its out-dated student residences.

To the surprise of the whole city, the review included the options of moving to Perth or Fife—in the latter case by possibly adopting the potentially lucrative name of the Adam Smith University—to find the space and facilities the university believes it needs.

Civic leaders and others expressed horror at the chance of Abertay leaving Dundee, given the contribution of the university to the life and image of the city, and questioned whether university leaders were resorting to brinksmanship to get what they wanted to stay in Dundee.

The university had in the past frequently declared itself happy with its city centre campus, and its recent actions—the spending of millions of pounds on a state-of-the art library and student centre in Bell Street—appeared to cement its place in the heart of the city.

Professor Nicholas Terry, the deputy principal who has played a leading role in the deliberations, spelled out that the possibility of leaving Dundee was no idle threat.

He said last month, “Should the university come to the conclusion that its best interests are served by looking for a location outside Dundee or an alternative location in Dundee, I have every confidence the university would have the courage to take that decision.”

After the court meeting yesterday, the university announced that more detailed option appraisals will be carried out on the advisability of continuing its development on a city-centre campus in Dundee versus the possibility of relocating to Kirkcaldy or Perth.

The refusal of planning permission in December had raised a doubt over the estates strategy that had been pursued for the past three years, a spokesman explained.

He continued, “At the time the strategy was drawn up in 2002, we ranked four possible options in order of preference: Remodelling the Bell Street campus with refurbishment and new buildings; relocation to a new site in Dundee or elsewhere; refurbish the existing buildings with no new build; or do the minimum necessary to maintain the existing buildings.

“The latter two options were rejected as being unsuited to the university’s ambitions, and while relocation was a possibility, the university settled on the remodelling strategy, central to which was the plan for student residences on a site owned, and recommended to us, by Dundee City Council.

“The plan was recommended for approval by the director of planning, but last December the committee decided otherwise. We respect fully their democratic right to make such a decision, but there is no doubt it had and continues to have huge implications for us.

“Following the decision, senior managers have held a number of discussions over the past two months with Dundee City Council to explore the implications of that decision and what the next steps might be.

“At the same time, initial discussions have taken place with local authorities in Fife and in Perth to explore in general terms what opportunities might exist for relocating the university.

“Now, having gathered a general picture of the different options open to us, the court has asked senior managers to carry out appraisals to enable more detailed consideration of the pros and cons of each option at a future meeting.”