Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West today welcomed the £52.9 million to help Leicester's College build new facilities and save the planet at the same time.

The £52.9 million that colleges in Leicester stand to gain, is part of a £2.3 billion pound strategy to develop new low carbon colleges, marking a radical new approach to the delivery of public buildings. The strategy will produce buildings similar the Leicester College’s new Abbey Park Campus which has been designed to make best use of sustainable resources such as solar water heating and wind turbines that will generate some of the College’s electricity.

Building Colleges for the Future, launched by the Department for Innovation Universities and Skills, outlines detailed proposals for the largest ever further education building works programme, which will see £2.3 billion invested over the next three years. It will provide Leicester with state of the art further education facilities and ensure that all new facilities are environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral by 2016.

In addition, for the first time ever, building companies will be contractually obliged to invest in the skills and training needs of the local area, thereby ensuring that local people will benefit from new work opportunities and apprenticeships.

Patricia Hewitt MP for Leicester West said, “This is great news for Leicester. New Buildings like Leicester College’s new Abbey Park Campus are setting the standard for sustainable development in further education in Leicester.  Projects like these are helping Leicester to pursue a more sustainable future.”

“The strategy to invest 2.3bn over the next three years will provide excellent facilities for local people, creating more jobs and training opportunities in the process.”

Leicester College’s new Abbey Park Campus, which can be seen when approaching the City from the Melton Road flyover, is a highly visible example of the progress being made in the sustainable development of further education facilities in Leicester. The Abbey Park Campus and Foundry will be the only buildings in the City centre with wind turbines. The £45 million project is being part-funded by the Learning and Skills Council. 

Maggie Galliers, Principal of Leicester College, said, "Sustainability is such an important issue and one that we have been thinking about for some time.  I'm delighted to be able to say that Leicester College is already leading the way in the construction of our new Abbey Park building which will include several examples of environmentally friendly technology.  The additional announcement that all new college building projects will be employing apprentices and other trainees is also very welcome and will really help to boost investment in training and skills development."