Deputy Minister Visits Welsh College of Horticulture Site

Sep 10 2009 By James Shepherd

Deeside College

On Wednesday Welsh Deputy Minister for Skills John Griffiths AM visited the Welsh College of Horticulture site in Northop, which is to see a £4m combined investment in further and higher education in North Wales.

Mr Griffiths toured the site following the merger on August 1, 2009, which saw all Further Education (FE) provision at the college transferred to Deeside College and Higher Education transferred to Glyndŵr University.

The merger marked a first for Wales in seeing further and higher education being delivered by two different institutions through shared facilities.

During the visit the Minister was given the chance to talk to the new intake of FE students as well as discuss land-based education with staff from Further and Higher Education.

The Minister visited all five areas of the college - Animal Care, Equine, Horticulture, Machinery and Floristry - as well as viewing the newly refurbished Glyndŵr University buildings where higher education provision will be delivered.

David Jones Principal of Deeside College said “Following Deeside College’s merger with the Welsh College of Horticulture, we were delighted to welcome the Deputy Minister for Skills to our Northop Campus. The merger is the first step in creating a centre of excellence for the land based sector in Wales, based in North East Wales.

"The £3m Learning Centre development that Deeside College will complete at the Northop campus over the next 10 months is just the beginning of a £12m investment plan that we have for the next 3 years.

"Over 200 staff and almost five thousand students have transferred from the Welsh College of Horticulture to the Deeside College Northop Campus following this landmark merger. Our investment plans, supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, are a vote of confidence in them all, and a huge investment in their futures and of the land based sector economy in Wales.”

Professor Michael Scott, Vice-Chancellor of Glyndŵr University, said he was excited by the University’s move into Flintshire.

“This new partnership means Glyndŵr University will go down in history as the first University in Flintshire. It is something about which we’re immensely proud and on which we hope to build, with the support of both local and national Government in the coming years,” he said.

“We start teaching our new degree courses from here this month and these are already proving popular with students.

“The merger is just the start for the University. We are already investing £1.7 million in new accommodation and study space for students and we will continue to expand our offering with new courses and new facilities at Glyndŵr University Flintshire over the next few years.”

Deputy Minister, John Griffiths, said: “This is an exciting progressive merger between the Welsh College of Horticulture and Deeside College and higher education with Glyndwr University. The Welsh Assembly Government is proud to help fund the new learning centre at Northop which will provide first-class specialist facilities for students.”

Ian Budd, Director of Lifelong Learning for Flintshire County Council said: 'we celebrate this important development for land-based education in the region. The partnership with the colleges is important to the Council.’