BUILDERS will start work on Newport’s £35 million new student campus in the next few weeks, University bosses say.

Yesterday, the project cleared its final hurdle when Newport City Council planning committee approved amended plans for the riverside campus.

The University of Wales, Newport, will build a new city centre hub on Usk Way, which is planned for completion by 2010.

Its first phase will house the Newport Business School and the School of Art, Media and Design.

The campus will include lecture theatres, and a cafe on the ground floor and restaurant on the first floor which would be open to both students and the public.

With a new contractor signed up, the university says work will begin in December.

The project will be a major boost to the city centre's economy, bringing in 3,000 students to local shops, bars and restaurants and providing a much-needed boost for buy-to-let landlords with properties in the city centre.

The university said the latest application for the project was required following small changes to the design made after the recent appointment of Willmott Dixon Construction.

Changes include a reduction in size to the roof canopy by 2.2 metres.

A spokeswoman for the university said they were thoroughly pleased they can now begin construction.

“Piling work will now be starting in the next few weeks,” she said.

Newport Unlimited Chief Executive John Burrows said the campus is fundamental to the city centre1s masterplan, set down in 2003.

He said: "Universities attract visitors for conferences and a vast range of activities.

"The new campus will help create a day time and night time economy."

He said that the campus should stimulate demand for student housing within the centre of Newport, encouraging those who study in Caerleon to live in the city.

The proposal was approved with conditions including that no piling work should be carried out near or in the river between March 1 and June 30 to avoid disturbing the spawning of shad and lamprey fish, no construction work should be carried out outside of 8am to 6pm Mondays to Fridays and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays, and a parking management scheme must be submitted to the council before the first stage is occupied.