Claims new learning hub will arm south east Northumberland residents with skills needed to land high-paid green energy jobs

Councillors on Northumberland County Council’s cabinet approved the full business case for the £13.6 million Energy Central Campus learning hub in Blyth this week.

Members said the first phase of the two-part project would help residents of the town get the training they need to access new, highly paid jobs being created in the area around the green energy industry.

The project forms part of the “Energising Blyth” programme supported by the government’s Town Deal funding. The Energy Central Campus (ECC) is described as a “transformational, business-led skills, education and innovation development” that will support growth in the low carbon energy sector in Blyth and the wider north east.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, cabinet member for business and Kitty Brewster councillor Wojciech Ploszaj explained how the hub would work.

He said: “This is the new STEM and vocational training centre developing energy sector skills among young people at schools and college and adults training for new roles. Learners will develop skills in a real-world energy port setting.

“This is a key project in supporting the growth of this sector and ensuring young people and adults will have access to the jobs being created, and form the leaders of these industries in the future.”

The county council had been working on the project along with the Port of Blyth and Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, a research centre for offshore renewable energy. It is hoped construction will start next month with a view to opening the hub in 2024.

Coun Richard Wearmouth, the council’s deputy leader, also endorsed the plans.

He said: “This is a really brilliant project. It provides a pathway to all of these jobs being created in the Blyth estuary for local residents.

“We will only succeed in levelling up in south east Northumberland if it is those residents getting access to those fantastic opportunities we’re creating. There must never be a situation where they’re just peering over the fence, wondering what is happening in the factories and facilities that are being created.”