THESE are the first images of a new 600-room college, part of the University of York's Heslington East development.

A planning application has been submitted to City of York Council for the buildings which will be the new Goodricke College, with the aim of moving in students in October 2009.

An access road which will be the gateway to the 117-acre addition to the campus - which is costing about £500 million - is already being built on green belt land in Heslington.

Plans for the new accommodation block are set to be discussed by City of York Council planners in April.

Outline planning permission for the development, which will virtually double the size of the university, was granted in 2006 after a seven-month public inquiry, which saw some Heslington villagers try to block it, claiming the surrounding countryside would be harmed and their lives disrupted by a huge influx of students. The Heslington East project is part of the university's aim to have about 16,500 students by 2020. It is expected to take a decade to complete.

University bosses have claimed the completed development will create more than 8,000 jobs in York and inject £185 million a year into the city's coffers.

Jon Meacock, the University of York's Heslington East project director, said: "It was part of the secretary of state's agreement that we have to provide a 600-bed college along with the first academic buildings, and plans for those will follow in the next few months.

"In the first phase of building, along with the college, there will be a building for the new department of theatre, film and TV, a department building and a teaching building for computer science and electronics and a new hub building with lecture theatres and recreation areas.

"The new college will be the new Goodricke College."

Heslington residents say they will be keeping a "watching brief" on the work.

Former parish council chairman Richard Frost, pictured, a vociferous opponent of the project, said: "It is important the Community Forum plays a large role in making sure the conditions imposed on this development are properly enforced to minimise the impact on everybody around it.

"We put up a good fight and while we did not win as much as we would like, we got some concessions.

"We want to work with the university to ensure the best job is done for the good of Heslington.

"We still have concerns about the village being swamped by thousands of new students.

"There must be proper link roads from one campus area to another, not informal routes."