Former mining community seeks skill centre boost
About 30 jobs would be created during the construction phase
- Published
A skills and innovation centre in southern Scotland hopes to help regenerate a former mining community.
Plans have been lodged to build the facility in Kelloholm to create new training and employment opportunities.
It has been estimated the centre could help to support up to 200 jobs across the area over a five-year period.
It would provide education and training for people in the region while helping to meet the skills needs of local employers.
'Dynamic community'
The science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) project is being led by the Kirkconnel and Kelloholm Development Trust (KKDT).
It is part of a wider regeneration plan for an area that has suffered economic decline linked to the loss of coal industry jobs.
A planning statement submitted to Dumfries and Galloway Council says the new centre could help address a skills shortage in the area.
It highlights the difficulties that local food company Brown Brothers has in recruitment and says the facility could help tackle the issue.
The statement also says it could help transform Kelloholm into a "thriving, dynamic, and globally connected community".
It is hoped it could also help offer training to other nearby former mining towns including New Cumnock, Auchinleck, Patna and Dalmellington.