College proposal to kickstart Weavers’ Triangle
A PLANNING application has been submitted for the new £10.1m University Technical College (UTC) at Victoria Mills in Burnley.
The submission marks the first significant phase of the £100m mixed-use redevelopment of Weavers’ Triangle through a Burnley Borough Council/Barnfield Investment Properties joint venture.
The UTC will be aimed at 14-19 year-olds and will provide technical training (including apprenticeships) in subjects such as engineering, advanced manufacturing and construction.
Barnfield’s construction arm has submitted the application on behalf of the college’s operator, Visions Learning Trust.
Project director Gareth Smith said: “This scheme forms part of a much broader regeneration which is being undertaken through a joint venture between Barnfield Investment Properties and Burnley Borough Council and will be the catalyst to many exciting opportunities in the area.”
“This project epitomises real regeneration and with our partners at Burnley Borough Council we will be able to deliver this exciting project in a short period of time.”
A decision on the planning application is expected in the next few weeks. If it is approved and funding is signed off by the secretary of state, the conversion of Victoria Mill is set to begin in June 2012 and the college should be fully operational by September 2013.
Steve Gray, chief executive at Training 2000, lead sponsors of Visions Learning Trust, said: “Submitting the planning application means that we are one step closer to realising our dream of establishing East Lancashire’s first UTC.
“Vision’s Learning Trust will offer an alternative to traditional education routes and will engage young people through hands-on, vocational learning that will give them a real flavour of what life is like in the world of work.”
Burnley Council chief executive Steve Rumbelow said: “The vision is to make Burnley a centre of educational excellence, a regionally significant centre for advanced manufacturing, digital and creative industries, so I’m delighted to see progress for the UTC moving forward at a pace.”
