YESTERDAY saw the ribbon cut on a new facility at Swindon College which could provide the builders of the future.

The college has welcomed the addition of a new construction centre for students on brickwork and plastering courses.

The centre, which took six months to build, cost £2.6 million, a third of which came from a government grant.

Staff and representatives from local construction firms gathered to see the opening and have a tour of the college facilities.

The ribbon was cut by Barry Dennington, who is the chairman of the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enter-prise Partnership.

He said with many large scale building projects planned for the Swindon area, facilities like the construction centre could help provide a local workforce.

“This is a fantastic facility and it really has the feel of a building site when you walk in,” said Barry.

“I am extremely impressed by what we have seen and it is great to see students working away.

“Part of the LEP responsibilities is to work with local authorities to help local colleges develop a skilled workforce.

“There are large scale developments going on all around Swindon, such as Wichelstowe and the Eastern Villages. This could well be where many of the workers for those projects come from so this could have a huge benefit for the local economy.

“We could potentially even see many set up their own businesses as independent builders.”

The building is split into two floors, with booths for students to practice and an open space for larger projects.

Its completion means that construction based projects at Swindon College are now all in the one campus whereas before some students had to travel to a site at Kembrey Park.

College Principal Andrew Miller said: “When I first came here I decided pretty quickly that it would be much better for all the students to come to one place and now we have that.

“The college wants to be at the forefront in the construction industry and this facility will helps us to achieve that.’’ The college is holding an open day tonight between 5pm and 7pm for prospective students.