Plans for a new training centre which will provide hundreds of places at the Solent Enterprise Zone at Daedalus, South Hampshire, have been lodged by Fareham College.

The college has submitted a planning application for a proposed new Centre of Excellence for Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Technology to be based on the Enterprise Zone. If approved, the centre will house open plan engineering workshops, classrooms, a learning resource centre and café, as well as conference and exhibition space for local employers.

Subject to approval of the plans, the new centre is scheduled to open in September 2014.

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Representing a £12m investment in engineering skills, the site is intended to provide industry-standard training facilities to support manufacturing skills with a focus on aeronautical, marine, electrical, automotive and mechanical engineering. The move is supported by an agreement which sees the College take eight acres of land from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), which owns much of the Enterprise Zone site.

If the plans are approved, the centre would provide training for around 400 students in courses ranging from Foundation Level to Higher National Diplomas.

Subject to the granting of planning permission, work on the site is due to start in late summer and completed in early summer 2013. It will be constructed by regional contractor Leadbitter and has been designed by Hampshire based Perkins Ogden Architects.

Ken Thornber, Leader of Hampshire County Council, which is funding £3m of the construction costs, said: "We are proud to support Fareham College in this innovative facility which will help provide a route into skilled engineering employment for young people and adults in this part of Hampshire."

(CD)