Wicklow County Campus Centre of Excellence

Business  /  Business Supports  /  Wicklow County Campus Centre of Excellence  /  Strategy & Projects For Growth

Strategy & Projects For Growth

Wicklow County Council aims to develop Wicklow County Campus into a centre of excellence in enterprise, education and innovation.

Wicklow County Campus Mission Statement

To develop Wicklow County Campus as a Centre of Excellence in Enterprise, Education and Innovation in Co. Wicklow and to act as a catalyst for economic development in the county.

Background

The college and buildings are situated on a holding of 55 acres zoned ‘college campus’ in the Wicklow Town-Rathnew Development Plan 2013-2019. Wicklow County Campus forms part of the Clermont – Tinakilly Action Area Plan along with the townlands of Tinakilly, Newrath, Rosanna Lower and Knockrobin measuring c. 137 ha. The provision of a new inner relief road for Rathnew to facilitate access to new developments from the existing road network is an important objective contained within the Action Area Plan.

Easy access

Wicklow County Campus is strategically located alongside Euro Route E01 (N11) Rosslare to Dublin Belfast Corridor with easy access to the M11/M50, Dublin Airport, major ports and Dublin City. It is well served by essential infrastructure of roads, water and waste water as well as a main fibre-optic cable and a high-voltage (440kv) electricity line.

Facilities

The main building, Clermont House, accommodates three floors of office space, meeting rooms as well as a large conference venue. State-of-the-art tiered classrooms, a college library, IT rooms and canteen facilities are provided in the main school building and are fitted out to the highest standard.

Wicklow County Campus is committed to the promotion of higher education and training through the provision of internationally recognised higher education opportunities, enterprise support programmes and other economic development activities.

Achievements

The first Wicklow County Campus Strategic Plan was adopted in 2008, covering the five-year period to 2013. The review of the plan provided the opportunity to re-evaluate what has been achieved and to chart the future direction of the campus over the next four-year period. While the preceding period was difficult and economically challenging globally, it was hoped to make considerable progress over the next five years in implementing the actions identified under the areas of education, enterprise and economic development, management and organisation, physical infrastructure and finance.

The Wicklow Local Enterprise Office (LEO) is located at Wicklow County Campus. The LEO is part of a new nationwide network of 31 LEOS, which deliver an improved system of local enterprise support to start-ups and small businesses across the country. Importantly, the Mid East Region Action Plan for Jobs recognises the potential for the expansion of existing incubation facilities available in Wicklow County Campus to support the development of early-stage HPSU businesses by providing increased access to mentorship and supports.

The future period 2016-2020

The objectives and actions presented in the plan have been developed with consideration of national and local strategies, such as the Local Economic and Community Plan 2016-2022, the Mid East Region Action Plan for Jobs 2016-2017 and the Co. Wicklow Economic Think Tank Plan. The actions are unique in nature as they reflect the goals and objectives of the campus for the coming five years.

The Wicklow County Campus Working Group is operational and will oversee the implementation of the actions within the plan. This group works with and supports the Economic Development and Enterprise Support SPC, which was set up in 2014 to drive economic policy and enterprise development in Co. Wicklow, and to oversee the roll out of the economic actions contained in the Local Economic Community Plan.

The Wicklow County Campus working group will implement the actions with the lead agencies and stakeholders identified. Stakeholder engagement and partnership is considered vital to the development process and Wicklow County Campus is committed to working with IT Carlow, the wider business community and other local and national agencies to achieve the goals and objectives contained within the Plan.

In addition to the very strong collaboration that exists between Wicklow County Campus and IT Carlow it is recognised that there are a wide range of state and other agencies that administer educational roles at local level such as the Kildare and Wicklow Education Training Board, the Bray Institute of Further Education and other education providers. Wicklow County Campus looks forward to working with these agencies and other agencies to pursue the objective of delivering international and national high quality education opportunities in life long learning and training. Wicklow County Campus in its role as the catalyst for economic development and enterprise support in the county will also participate in programmes that are positive to the development of a vibrant and innovative community and social enterprise sector.