CAMPUSES are good news. The Essex University and South East Essex College versions have brought fresh energy to the heart of Southend in the short time they have been with us.

So plans for a second campus in Basildon are clearly welcome.

Yet such a move must also spark fears of empire-building and territorial infringement.

In the bidding so far to run the new Basildon site are Thundersley-based Seevic and the aforementioned South East Essex College.

Whoever wins, the existing Thurrock and Basildon College could end up being squeezed, after flying the flag for 16-19 education in the new town for 40 years.

The reason is brutal. Seevic and South East Essex College are thriving. Basildon and Thurrock College has a much patchier track-record.

Times are changing and education is an area where competition has to be allowed to operate effectively.

Successful institutions must be allowed to flourish by expansion.

There is a critical need to improve education and training in Basildon. That need is too pressing to allow politics - or sentiment - to intrude.

May the best college win.