Construction has commenced on major upgrades to North Regional TAFE's Pundulmurra campus, with $48.9 million in new facilities set to deliver a substantial boost to trade training in the Pilbara region.
Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery today visited the South Hedland site to turn the sod for the new trades training facility and announce that Decmil Group has been appointed to carry out the construction.
The significant project involves relocating the trades training activities from the TAFE's South Hedland annex to the Pundulmurra campus, where new workshops, classrooms and specialist training areas will be built and set up with modern, industry-relevant training equipment.
The campus will also get a new commercial cookery training kitchen and classroom to cater for local secondary students, job seekers and career changers.
Its new state-of-the-art facilities will deliver training for a wide range of in-demand trades and specialist skill areas, including:
- heavy automotive;
- heavy mobile and fixed plant;
- engineering trades; and
- commercial cookery.
Extensive consultation was carried out with the local community and industries, particularly the resources sector, throughout the planning stages of the project to ensure the new facilities are designed to meet the Pilbara's training needs.
Trades training facilities upgrades getting underway at the Pundulmurra campus this month include $43.2 million worth of improvements through the McGowan Government's Rebuilding our TAFEs plan and $4.6 million towards a light automotive and automotive electrical training facility. A new $1.1 million horticulture workshop was also completed earlier this year.
These projects will significantly increase training capacity in the region, helping to meet demand for more skilled workers and apprentices, as well as enabling North Regional TAFE to consolidate training delivery at Pundulmurra.
The Pundulmurra Trade Expansion is part of the McGowan Government's record $215.8 million investment in TAFE capital works projects, delivering first-class learning opportunities to students and boosting the WA economy by generating jobs.
Construction is expected to be completed by the end of next year, with training planned to commence in Semester 1, 2024.