Tauranga MP and National Party leader Simon Bridges dropped into the CBD to check in on how the development of the University of Waikato's Tauranga campus is progressing.

He was given a personal tour of the building site by Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley and Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Alister Jones earlier today.

Much of the building's frame and steelwork is nearly finished, and Simon says it's ‘incredibly exciting' to see the project mere months away from completion.

'This campus will obviously have a huge benefit to local businesses and for local education. It's an impressive complex that think will be play a big part in reviving the CBD.

'I've always feared we could end up like Auckland, with too much sprawl. But this is great because it's in the heart of the city.”

Alister says the project is on schedule, and will open to University of Waikato students in time for the first semester of 2019.

'We're actually a year ahead of the original schedule, which was to open in 2020.”

He says the campus will eventually cater for up to 1500 students, who will be able to study and complete a range of degrees in Tauranga, including in business, education, social science, and social work.

'We're excited to see the building finally taking shape. Once the roof is on and its weathertight, we expect work to accelerate even more.”

He says the $55 million campus would have taken a lot longer to build in Tauranga, were it not for the contributions from other stakeholders - $15 million each from TECT and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and the land provided by Tauranga City Council.

'They were quite clear that they saw the social and economic benefits this campus will deliver, which is why they supported us.”