Work starts on £15m Newark air and space training centre

The centre is being built at the demolished Newark Livestock Market site

Work has started on a new £15.4m air and space training facility in Nottinghamshire.

Newark and Sherwood District Council approved plans for an Internal Air and Space Training Institute (IASTI) in February.

The facility is being built at the demolished Newark Livestock Market in the town's Great North Road.

It will cater for approximately 350 students and 40 staff, and will be supported by the RAF.

The site will be run by Lincoln College Group.

Students are currently undergoing flight and engineer training at an interim facility at the group's Newark College campus.

The council said the new site would house state-of the art engineering and flight training equipment, including a commercial aircraft for students to work on.

It said it hoped that, once their training was complete, students would provide the next generation of pilots, engineers and ground crew.

Newark College has a flight simulator for students to use

Labour councillor Yvonne Woodhead said during a planning meeting, attended by the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "This has got to be the biggest improvement on the gateway to Newark that we have ever seen.

"It's fantastic and it will put Newark on the map."

Conservative councillor Matthew Skinner added: "It will raise aspirations for the townsfolk of Newark.

"It will give them an absolutely bright future."

The development was one of a number of projects identified by Newark's Town Investment Plan, developed by the Newark Towns Fund Board to regenerate the town centre.

As part of the proposals, £10.6m is being contributed towards the project from the Towns Fund.