Further steps have been taken towards an almost $5million TAFE NSW regional Connected Learning Centre at the site of the old Bega District Hospital.
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A development application was lodged with Bega Valley Shire Council on on May 16, with NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro saying there will be a “shovel in the ground” in coming months.
Mr Barilaro said specific details of the new-age campus are still being considered, and the fate of the current TAFE NSW Bega campus is still unknown.
“You just never know, we don’t make decisions until we explore all means,” Mr Barilaro said while in Bega last week.
The development application estimates the cost of construction at $4,800,600, with asbestos concerns at the site considered within the development’s business case.
Bega MP Andrew Constance said the development will become part of a wider “education precinct” through “the guts of Bega”, with technology a core focus.
“This will shock people when it’s done,” Mr Constance said.
Mr Constance announced the move in April last year, after “significant funds” were allocated in the 2016 NSW government capital works budget.
In 2016 then Bega Valley Shire Council mayor Michael Britten said council had been in secret negotiations with Health Infrastructure since 2015, with the aim of constructing a “regional tertiary education centre”.
Mr Barilaro said the new centre has been designed to be adapted to suit the demands of the community.