FLANNERY CENTRE SITE LAUNCH
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is so impressed with plans for the city’s Flannery Centre he has described Bathurst as being ahead of the pace in terms of what is happening in many other parts of the country.
Central West Group Apprentices and Skillset will construct a world-class carbon efficiency skills centre on a three hectare site purchased on Panorama Avenue and preliminary work will begin on the green skills training centre in late November.
The chosen location, which up until now has been a closely guarded secret, will be unveiled tomorrow by Gerard Martin MP and will have a tradtional Aboriginal smoking ceremony. Speaking at this week’s community cabinet meeting Mr Rudd talked about the Federal Government’s investment in the $7.5million project.
“We are investing $5million as the Australian Government because we believe that you are on to something really important here for the future of the national economy,” Mr Rudd said.
“This is really smart stuff and you are doing it here in Bathurst.
“This is about bringing about the whole new range of skills in the Australian economy to prepare for a lower carbon or renewable economy with the highest level of energy efficiency in the future to deal with the greenhouse challenge.
“This is a very practical set of building skills and design related activities. We are going to be watching very closely how this one goes,” the Prime Minister said.
The centre will be named after 2007 Australian of the Year Professor Tim Flannery because of his leading role in highlighting climate change issues. In his book The Weather Makers Professor Flannery urges readers to drive positive change within their own sphere of influence.
CEO of Central West Group Apprentices & Skillset Ben Bardon said this is a response to that challenge.
The funding application was submitted by CWGA, and Skillset will carry out the training at the centre.
The project is moving swiftly thanks to an expedited approach by both the state government and council. TAFE’s agreement to sell the land has made it possible.
“Essentially, this is a centre for the community as we respond and adapt to changes in our environment,” Mr Bardon said.
“It is a place where individuals can do technical training in a range of different qualifications, but it will focus on sustainable technologies training.”
Mr Bardon said the building itself will be designed as an education resource for how to build sustainably. As much natural sunlight as possible will be used to heat the building and ways to cool the building without using refrigeration will be developed.
“It’s a way of bringing together the whole community to demonstrate what a sustainable future looks like,” he said.
Project Manager Ashley Bland said through the centre, the community will be able to learn everything from composting to positioning solar panels.
“There is a lot of talk about sustainability. This is action,” he said.
Mr Ben Bardon said the new Centre will be a training and action research facility to create skillsets for a low carbon economy as well as an exemplar of green design and sustainable business practice.
“It will become a centre of excellence as industry looks to lower their carbon footprint and access energy efficient training. It will provide the opportunity to establish links through innovation and research for business and industry in the central west - securing jobs in the region.” he said.
It will feature cutting edge teaching and learning equipment for research. The Centre also aims to create opportunities for local students and businesses to train or retrain in the emerging skills they will need to be part of the workforce of the low carbon future.
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