Plans for a £3.3 million state-of-the-art Construction Skills Centre at Bath College went on show at a public consultation last week.
The new centre, at the college’s Somer Valley Campus, would be a one-stop shop for students looking to develop a career in the construction industry.
Courses on offer will include brickwork, building services, carpentry, construction, painting and decorating, plumbing, refrigeration and air-conditioning, stonemasonry and electrical engineering.
It is hoped the centre will become a regional centre of excellence for the industry, creating a talent pool for employers to find their future workforce.
.jpeg?width=209&height=140&crop=209:145,smart&quality=75)
Located on existing car park space, the new 2,665m² centre will focus on full-time programmes for fourteen to sixteen-year-olds and sixteen to eighteen-year-olds, apprenticeships and higher education, alongside programmes for the unemployed. It will help learners to gain the skills they need to secure and sustain employment in the construction industry and it is hoped will support local economic development, job creation, business growth and regeneration.
The project will cost £3.342 million to complete, with funding worth £2.506 million already secured from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Local Growth Fund.
A planning application will be submitted shortly, with the aim to open in early 2017.
Bath College Principal, Matt Atkinson, said: “The new facility will prioritise the development of skills for employability, prioritise an increase in apprenticeships, and raise skills levels within the construction workforce.
“The centre will offer a variety of training in a range of trades and disciplines, which are needed by local employers and businesses operating in the West of England and Bath College will establish an employer panel to ensure that our course offering remains responsive to local employer needs.
“The project will support the vision of the newly merged college to create a specialist learning hub at the Somer Valley Campus, where skills are closely linked to economic needs in support of local economic development.”