A MASSIVE £1.6 million building project in Barry aimed at creating a major IT skills training centre for the region is underway.

The Information Technology Skills Centre will be an extension of the existing Heritage Skills Training Centre located in the emerging Commercial, Heritage and Education Quarter area of Waterfront Barry.

It will provide a high quality, modern teaching and learning environment for a range of courses for people from around Barry and South Wales to be delivered by Barry College, which already runs courses at the Heritage Skills Training Centre.

The scheme has been developed by Barry Action, the partnership between the Welsh Development Agency and the Vale of Glamorgan Council which is regenerating and developing the Greater Barry Area, and continues its commitment to establishing training and education projects as part of its portfolio.

And is funded through a Local Regeneration Fund grant from the Welsh Assembly Government, match funded by the Welsh Development Agency.

The Information Technology Skills Centre is the newest element of the 19-acre Commercial, Heritage and Education Quarter on the edge of the High Street and Broad Street shopping areas, already the location of the Hood Road Goods Shed, steam engine halt and community events area.

Future plans include the development of live/work space, business start-up units, an Entrepreneurship Centre, and a further halt for the steam railway, which will open in the late Spring.

Vale of Glamorgan Assembly Member Jane Hutt welcomed the development, which she said would be a major asset not just for Barry, but for South Wales as well.

This was echoed by Council Leader Jeff James said the continuing pace of progress being achieved by Barry Action in Barry was exciting.

Barry Action project manager Andrew Dakin who told the News that as well as providing the facilities for increased training opportunities, the Information Technology Skills Centre would be a further exemplar of 'high design quality in regeneration projects in Barry.'

Paul Halstead, Principal and Chief Executive of Barry College, added that he was delighted to be expanding the range of courses delivered by the college from an increasingly important part of Barry and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The scheme is being project managed by E C Harris, and the contractors are Knox and Wells. It is due for completion.