At the other end of the scale from the falling-down industrial buildings are these new buildings constructed as part of the Nottingham University Jubilee campus. The first buildings on this site opened while I was still a student there, and I was a tour guide for a while. Most of those buildings were square and normal-looking, but sustainable development was a major factor in their construction, and in the middle was a really striking spiral library. They’re just outside my ward, but still represented by Lib Dem councillors.

These new buildings are erm, not square at all. They seem to me to owe a lot of their form in science fiction: the big triangular ones look like AT-ATs from Star Wars whilst the main building with Triumph Road running underneath it is two discs held together by a bridge, which reminds me of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek.

In addition to the buildings already well advanced in construction, they also have planning permission for a 60m high spire, called A-Spire, ho ho ho, which will be in the middle of this.

Judging by the speed these are going up at, they want to be teaching in them by September.

Some local residents have raised concern that it appears that the University want to close off Triumph Road to the public. They do not have permission to do this, and the current plans do not include that proposal. They do, however, have permission to move the road a bit, and introduce a big bend in the road to help reduce traffic speeds. They will also be opening up and grassing out land on either side of the road to turn it into open space, and also bringing the River Leen out of its culvert. There is a chance they will want to close the road in the future, but they won’t be able to do this without major public consultation and demonstrating it will have no impact on the road network.