Milestone for Peterborough College as construction starts on £13.5m Centre for Green Technology

Construction work has started on a new £13.5 million Green Technology Centre at Peterborough College.

Civic leaders gathered to join college principal Rachel Nicholls for a ‘spades in the ground’ ceremony to officially mark the start of building the centre that is intended to equip students with the work skills of the future.

Constructors Clegg have been on site since October and have already driven 159 nine metre deep piles into the ground which will provide the support for the three-storey building.

Construction should be completed by November next year with recruitment for students under way in September 2024 with teaching starting the following year.

The centre will have a floor space of 2,664 square metres and will include an electrical workshop, engineering lab, building services engineering lab, a plumbing workshop and an engineering and motor vehicles lab as well as classrooms, offices and breakout spaces.

Rachel Nicholls told civic leaders: “This is a significant milestone for us.

"I have no doubt the Centre for Green Technology will ensure students are able to secure highly skilled, highly paid jobs in our region.

She said: “We started our green curriculum journey a number of years ago.

"Our new centre will enable us to take that course offer to the next level and will enable us to deliver courses in modern methods of construction, retrofit, electric vehicle technology, car charging installation, manufacturing, air and heat source technology and automation.

"We are exceptionally thankful for the financial support from the Combined Authority, the Growth Fund, the Transforming Cities Fund, and Peterborough City Council via the Towns Fund that have contributed to this project.

She said: "The Inspire Education Group is contributing £8.8 million to the project.

"This demonstrates our commitment to invest in our Peterborough campus and in Peterborough as a city.

And she added: "It would be remiss of me not to use this opportunity to ask for more support not just for this project but we have increasing and significant pressures on us in terms of space, growing numbers of students and an ageing estate that desperately needs investment.

City council leader Councillor Mohammed Farooq, who told how he completed his studies at the college 42 years ago, said: “In Peterborough one of things we always wanted was prosperity.

"We all have different solutions to achieving prosperity but many agree that the solution is attracting high skilled jobs and high skilled industry.

"But to attract them here needs to be something for them and that is people who’ve been equipped with the skills that industry needs.”

Peterborough MP Paul Bristow said: “This could be transformative for this college. This is for the young people of our city, their potential is what counts. And we are doing it.

Deputy mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Lucy Nethsingha: said: “This is an exciting project that brings together so many of the important things that we need in order to be able to make a green transition.

"We will not be able to make that transition without the skilled workforce to be able to service electric vehicles and to fit electric heating pumps and so centres like this are going to be absolutely critical.”