Helen Westwood, MLC, representing Verity Firth, NSW Minister for Education and Training, and Senator Michael Forshaw, representing the Federal Government attended the opening.

The facilities have been built to address growth requirements in Coffs Harbour in several industry sectors, including automotive, nursing, aged care, sports and fitness and will be used by TAFE, university and senior college students enrolled at the campus.

Ms Westwood said the NSW Government and the Federal Government together had invested more than $9 million dollars through TAFE NSW to ensure the Coffs Harbour community continued to have access to first-class facilities.

“I am very pleased to be able to take part in the celebrations of the construction of these wonderful new educational facilities and confirm the NSW Government’s commitment to quality education and training in the mid-North Coast,” Ms Westwood said.

“These state-of-the-art facilities, including practical training environments, laboratories, workspaces and classrooms, ensure students receive quality vocational training and that our local industries and community benefit from having a highly skilled and talented workforce.

“This automotive training capability is designed to meet high local demand for courses in the industry – demand that reflects the overall national trend.”

The opening of the new automotive facility is the final step in integrating a complete trade precinct at the campus, incorporating welding, metal fabrication, fitting and machining.

The specialist spaces in the new automotive training facility include workshop floor space, engine dynamometer room, electrical, mechanical and fuel system laboratories, seminar/call out rooms, and library/resource room.

Ms Westwood said the other new facilities constructed as part of the project would meet existing and projected demand locally for training of nursing, aged care and sports and fitness practitioners.