Langarth Garden Village is committed to investing in the next generation.
As well as recruiting apprentices to work on different parts of the Garden Village, the project team recently invited 30 brick laying and carpentry students from Truro and Penwith college to visit the site as part of an initiative to inspire the next generation of skilled workers.
The college already offers a wide range of construction courses and was recently awarded £1.7 million from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and a further £500k from the Department for Education’s (DfE) Local Skills Improvement Fund to increase capacity further and create a future-proof, state-of-the-art facility to meet the current and future needs of Cornwall’s construction industry.
With plans to construct more than 3,600 new homes at Langarth, the Garden Village will be looking to recruit a significant number of construction professionals during the next 25 years.
The project team has established strong links with the college, hosting a number of visits from students over the past two years.
During this most recent visit Charles Hill, Sarah Treliving and Alex Tapley from Arcadis gave the students an overview of the development, encouraging them to think about how a construction project of this scale comes to life.
The Garden Village will offer a range of opportunities for careers in construction, with the skills being gained by these Level 1 brick laying and carpentry diploma students likely to be in great demand as the project progresses.
Introducing students to a project in its earlier stages helps them to see the scheme as a whole, rather than just focusing on the construction side of things.
Another of the key topics covered during the visit was the importance of sustainable practices in construction. Langarth Garden Village is committed to sustainability, with specific elements including the development of a geothermal network, its own tree nursery and the use of sustainable urban drainage ponds (SUDs).
Students also looked at the plans for the integration of the first new primary school, the creation of the new parks, gardens and open spaces, the construction of Fordh Langarth, the new road which links all part of the site, and the innovative use of geothermal heating.
Charlotte Baines, who is involved in the Langarth project, gave a remote presentation on the Garden Village to some of the college’s students. One of a whole host of presentations provided by industry experts in the art lecture theatre in the Fal building, this looked at how the 25 year project, located right on the college’s doorstep, is set to redefine the local landscape.
The project team’s aim was to provide the students with an insight into how a project of the scale of Langarth Garden Village can be successfully delivered, whilst teaching them about the importance of sustainability and show how they could get involved in the future.
