£11.2m ‘engineering centre of excellence’ unveiled for college’s Rhyl campus

A council leader has “welcomed” plans to invest £11.2m into an “engineering centre of excellence” at a seaside town’s college.

Grŵp Llandrillo Menai unveiled the idea for the Rhyl campus, with a nod of approval from Denbighshire council leader Hugh Evans.

The college claims it will become a “world-class education and training” hub for engineering, including a new Institute for Renewable Energy Technology, supported by RWE Renewables, with a double-height wind turbine workshop.
The plan is part of a £90m modernisation of college facilities which it says will put “high quality centres of excellence” at its heart.

Rhyl Campus will replicate the group’s Canolfan STeM in Llangefni, it said, and other proposals include the relocation of the Bangor campus to the town’s Parc Menai industrial estate.

College principal Lawrence Wood said: “It will provide learners in the region the ability to learn and train on the latest technology in a state-of-the-art learning environment.

“This will stand them in good stead to pursue well-paid careers in industries such as power generation, engineering and advanced manufacturing. ”

The move by the education group fits in with the North Wales Growth Deal, a strategy being being backed by all six North Wales county councils, Bangor and Glyndwr universities, Coleg Llandrillo and Coleg Cambria.

Its aim is to produce £2bn of economic growth to the region by 2036 using Welsh Government, UK Government and private sector cash to kick-start high value business, improved digital communications and innovation in green technologies.
The deal also aims to stimulate investment in major projects like Holyhead Port and Trawsfynydd and strengthen the agri-food and tourism sectors.

All of this will be helped with £240m in grants, £120m from each of Welsh and UK Governments.

Cllr Evans has been a strong advocate of the Growth Deal. He said: “I welcome these proposals for Coleg Llandrillo’s Rhyl campus which aim to offer a world-class education in engineering to support a host of industries across North Wales, including the renewable energy sector.

“Providing learners in the region with the very best education facilities and opportunities enables them to develop careers and provides industry with well-trained employees, which helps grow our economy here in North Wales.”

The group’s chief executive Dafydd Evans said the expansion will allow it to “refine our bespoke, industry-targeted provision” to give learners better career prospects and support the “wider economy”.

Members of the public are being invited to view the scheme details and plans can be seen at:
Pre-Application Consultation – Proposed development at Coleg Llandrillo, Rhyl Campus, Cefndy Road, Rhyl, Denbighshire

By

Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter