THE University for the Creative Arts (UCA) has been given the green light to build a new £4 million film and media centre to inspire the next generation of Oscar-winners at its Farnham campus.

Waverley planning officers have granted their full consent to the UCA’s plans, with the university now hoping to complete the new two-storey building comprising a lecture theatre, film and rehearsal studios, and a new “state-of-the-art” music technology suite by autumn 2018.

The need for the building has, according to the UCA, resulted from the changing profile of subject uptake moving from traditional courses such as textiles and ceramics to film, music and media courses.

However, the university has given its reassurance that the number of students will not “significantly increase” as a result of the new building, located at the rear of UCA’s site and designed by London-based Pascall+Watson Architects.

A UCA spokesman said: “The new building will provide specialist facilities for film and media students, housing the technology needed to ensure that students continue to have access to excellent learning environments equipped with the tools they need to develop their creative skillset.”

The new centre has not proved universally popular, however, and in a letter to UCA deputy vice-chancellor, Alan Cooke, members of the Farnham Society have expressed concern at the siting of the proposed new building.

They suggest relocating the centre further north, resulting in the formation of a square with the new staff office building to the west, the existing library to the east and the John Luard building to the south.

“The ‘square’ could function as a car park for a majority of the time but on occasions could be taken over for special events and if sympathetically landscaped it could prove a popular summer venue with its southern aspect,” they said.

Waverley planners also expressed concern at a loss of car parking spaces as a result of the proposal, but these concerns were not deemed serious enough to warrant the refusal of planning permission.