A £65m new advanced technology centre from Cardiff and Vale Collge at Cardiff Airport has been given the green light The 130,000 sq ft project has been approved by Vale of Glamorgan Council.
One of two new campuses in a £100m investment, it will be located alongside the college's existing International Centre for Aerospace Training at the Rhoose-based airport.
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The net zero campus will accommodate around 2,000 learners and more than 100 staff. Subject to approval of the college’s full business case, construction work is expected to begin at the next year and open in 2026.
Courses will focus on supporting economic development and meeting the skills needs of employers in advanced technologies and green skills – for both the emerging renewable technologies and the retrofit skills needed to meet net zero carbon targets.
As well as full time courses to give students an entry pathway into these industries, there will be apprenticeships and part-time courses providing employees and their employers the opportunity to upskill their workforce. Higher education courses will also be offered, including courses run in collaboration with university partners.
Last month Cardiff and Vale College, the third biggest further education institution in the Ƶ, secured planning consent for a £35m new waterfront learning campus in .
Work on that 60,000 sq ft net zero campus, which will cater for up to 1,000 full and part-time students, is scheduled to start early next year and open towards the end of 2026. It will replace the college’s existing and ageing campus at Barry on Colcot Road.
The sale of the current site will part fund the two new campuses, which will mainly funded via the Welsh Government’s mutual investment model (MIM), with construction costs repaid over a 25-year period. The college’s committed financial contribution to both projects is around 19%. It is the first time the Welsh Government has used MIM to fund a college project.
Group chief executive of Cardiff and Vale College, Mike James, said; “We are delighted that the Vale of Glamorgan has approved of the next stage of our investment in education and training in the region.
“It is with real pleasure that I can say that we are delivering on our commitment to provide first-class teaching and learning environments for learners and the community in the Vale of Glamorgan. This advanced technology centre will also cater to the current and future needs of employers across the Vale and the wider Capital Region.
“We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Government, Vale of Glamorgan Council and Welsh Education Partnership Company (the special purpose vehicle overseeing the design and funding of the campus) to ensure this project will be the success that I know it will.”
Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council, Lis Burnett, said: “This is wonderful news for the Vale of Glamorgan. The advanced technology centre at Cardiff Airport will establish a second centre of international excellence here in the Vale.
“The aerospace centre, which it will sit alongside has already done much to drive economic , in the Vale. Pioneering even more technologies here in the Vale will only add to this as well as giving local people a pathway into highly skilled jobs.”
