Construction underway on $7.5m CQU heavy auto training facility
Construction is now underway on a multi-million-dollar specialist training facility for heavy automotive trades at the CQUniversity Mackay Ooralea campus.
The slab for the $7.5 million facility which will sit adjacent to, and complement existing trade training facilities at the University, has now been poured, with site completion slated for March 2024.
It is expected that the facility will be operational by Term 2, 2024, and will help cater for an average year-on-year student growth of 15 per cent in the heavy automotive discipline over the past five years in the Mackay region.
Once complete, the site will enable CQUniversity to deliver heavy automotive trade courses including Certificate III in Engineering – Mechanical Trade (Diesel Fitting), Certificate III in Mobile Plant Technology and Certificate III in Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology, in full within the Mackay region.
The facility will also enable the University to almost triple its student capacity in the trade discipline from 140 to 400-plus students.
Importantly, the new facility will provide heavy automotive trade apprentices with a purpose-built training space, plus more than $2.4 million worth of the latest industry-related tools, resources and technology.
Local MP The Hon Julieanne Gilbert visited the site on Thursday, 9 November, to inspect progress and tour existing facilities where she met with current students and apprentices.
Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer said: “We are following through on our election promise of a $7.5 million funding commitment to upgrade existing heavy automotive training facilities to help meet the growing demand for training in the Mackay region.
“The new facility will contribute to the regional economy and allow the public training provider, CQU, to continue changing lives and supporting communities and industry through skills-based training.
“Once the upgrade is completed, final year apprentices will no longer have to travel for up to four hours to Rockhampton or Emerald to complete required training blocks, saving them time and money.
“By boosting training capacity, the redeveloped trade training centre will supply a pipeline of qualified heavy automotive professionals, crucial to keeping the region’s industries running.”
Peter Heilbuth, Deputy Vice-President, VET and Business Development at CQUniversity said that he was delighted to see construction start on the site.
“The development of this facility is much needed in the region as local industry and the community rely heavily on skilled trade professionals to keep the economy and key industries running.
“The facility will deliver apprentices and trainees world-class facilities and equipment to ensure they get the most out of their training experience. This better prepares them for their future careers and the needs and expectations of industry. This will also have a positive impact on their employers as apprentices will be trained using the latest resources and technology,” he said.
“We are thankful to the Queensland Government for their support of CQUniversity and skills training in the CQ region.”
Queensland based builder WHF Group will lead the construction of the project and it is estimated that up to 50 jobs will be created during construction.
The 1,610 sqm site will include workshop space, teaching areas, staff spaces and specialist equipment including an air brake simulator, hydraulic training stations, transmission training simulators, diesel engine benches and an air suspension training stand for trucks.
