The mayor of Helston has shared his vision to bring university studies to the town in a bid to revitalise its fortunes.

Mike Thomas said he wanted to open up debate about using the town not only as a base for higher education but also housing students who study in nearby Falmouth and Penryn.

In an exclusive interview with the Helston Packet, Mr Thomas said: "Any town has to look to its future, to think 'Where are we going?' Are we just going to become a dormitory town, where we build houses after houses after houses?

"It's a question I throw out to the people in Helston; where do they see the town going? No single person has the answer, but there are lots of possibilities."

Mr Thomas believed the expertise that already existed in Helston offered untapped potential, pointing to RNAS Culdrose as the ideal base to offer higher education courses in aviation and nearby Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station as having possibilities for space and telecommunication studies.

"I've already had conversations with Captain Orchard [commanding officer of Culdrose], about how aviation apprenticeships in the first place, as further education, could be developed, which could lead onto higher education qualifications as well," he added.

"It's about driving forward change and sustainability."

Mr Thomas believed these ideas would return the Combined Universities in Cornwall to its original intentions, which was to have it based on a "hub and rim" system.

The site of the former Tremough Convent School at Penryn was chosen as the "hub", becoming the Tremough Campus, with offshoot facilities on "the rim" in other areas.

This is borne out in the Peninsula Medical School, which is affiliated with the CUC but operates in Truro.

Over the years, however, development of the CUC has centred very much on Falmouth and Penryn and stopped short of spreading further afield as planned.

"I want to make a case that Helston should be on that rim," he said.

The town already has links with the CUC through the CAST building in Penrose Road, where art students from Falmouth University have used its facilities on projects.

Mr Thomas said that Helston was also an "obvious place to consider" for Cornish study courses.

While these would be a long-term visions, in the short-term Mr Thomas saw Helston as having the capacity to provide accommodation for existing students, particularly with Falmouth University's aspirations to increase its intake from just over 5,000 to 8,000 (6,500 on campus and a further 1,500 distance learning) by 2020.

He acknowledged: "That might be slightly contentious, because you are changing the nature of Helston as a town."

But he explained: "If the university at Tremough wishes to expand and there's a problem with accommodation, everything on the table should be considered."

"If you're looking at accommodation, that would make such a difference to our town. That really would bring a lot of change, in a positive way, and lead to a requirement for a much more vibrant town centre.

"The nature of town centres has changed; we're not talking about town centres as places where people buy groceries, but a place that people meet and socialise. Any development like that could continue that."

He said the university brought £260 million of Regional Development Fund money from Europe into this area and he added: "I certainly think it's something that Helston could be a part of, rather than separate from."

Mr Thomas stressed that these were very much just ideas, adding: "I've got no clear idea how these could go ahead, I'm looking at it in a very much 'blue sky idea' way. It is just a thought.

"We don't want to steal anything. My argument is you're expanding the rim, looking for clear expertise and skills.

"It does come back to that question of where does Helston see itself going and how can it take part in a meaningful way."

A spokesman for Falmouth University said: "Falmouth University is committed to growing the economy of Cornwall as a whole and increasing access to higher education for young people across the county plays a key part in this objective.

"We aim to have 25 per cent of our student population coming from Cornwall by 2020. We recently signed a progression partnership agreement with Helston Community College to help students into Falmouth, which is the UK’s number one university for the creative industries.

"We welcome an ongoing dialogue about how we can build ever closer ties across Cornwall and we would be very supportive in recommending Helston as a place to live for our students."