Following funding announcement in Tuesday’s State Budget for Bendigo TAFE, Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews and Minister for Training and Skills, Gayle Tierney were in Bendigo to review plans for the $59.93 million project planned to revitalise and redevelop Bendigo TAFE’s city campus with CEO Trevor Schwenke.
Meeting with Bendigo TAFE CEO Trevor Schwenke, the funding will allow work to commence on the planned staged redevelopment which will see the creation of three distinct precincts: education, community and commercial.
The project aims to transform Bendigo TAFE’s city campus into a modern vocational training centre that meets the needs of local industry and improves the employment prospects of residents across the region.
Welcoming the announcement as a “game-changer”, Mr Schwenke said revitalising the campus will create a vibrant and busy space for students and boost activity in the northern part of Bendigo’s central business district.
“The planned staged redevelopment will enable Bendigo TAFE to provide students with state-of-the-art facilities, while ensuring the preservation of some of Bendigo’s most historic landmark buildings,” Mr Schwenke said.
“Working in partnership with the State Government under its Skills First initiative, we have already built two fantastic new centres of excellence for health and community and food and fibre.
“These facilities are fulfilling the old adage ‘if you build it they will come’ with significant increases in enrolments at the Health and Community Centre of Excellence.
“We are very keen to keep the momentum going and we very much welcome funding in the Budget so we can continue activating this important part of the city, not only for our students, teachers and support staff, but for the whole Bendigo community.”
The funding comes after a business case was funded in 2017 investigating how the Bendigo TAFE’s city campus could be revitalised. The revitalisation plans for the city campus seek to achieve increased student enrolments and improved student experience, create a vibrant and busy campus, preserve and transform heritage assets and improve building operating performance and efficiency.
Bendigo TAFE is working to finalise draft plans, with the project expected to be completed in late 2020.
“Our plan is to revitalise Bendigo TAFE into a modern vocational training facility that meets the needs of local industry and improve the job prospects of residents from across the region,” Bendigo TAFE CEO Trevor Schwenke said.
