The Welsh Assembly Government has responded to the decision by the UK Government to scrap plans for a new Defence Technical College at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan.
First Minister Carwyn Jones said,
“This decision is a huge disappointment and will be an immense blow to the local community. The project would have led to the creation of thousands of training, support and construction jobs and would have seen significant opportunities for local suppliers. We have worked very closely with the MOD to develop these plans and we now urge the UK Government to keep St Athan open as an option for their future training needs.”
Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said,
“We believe this is a missed opportunity as St Athan provides the basis to create a truly world class training facility that would have also provided a multi million pound boost to the Welsh economy. We will now seek talks with the MOD to see what options there are for attracting new investment to St Athan.”
The decision by the UK Government to suspend the project will mean the loss of:
- Up to 2500 training and support jobs
- Up to 1500 construction jobs
- £700m – £800m DTC construction contract
- £60m DTC supply chain expenditure annually
- Approx £500m annual boost to the Welsh economy from operational activities
- Between £270k and £540k boost to local tourism
To date the Welsh Assembly Government has spent in access of £5 million in support of the redevelopment plans for St Athan, which includes plans for an aerospace business park.
Welsh Ministers also earmarked up to £60 million over six years to provide the necessary infrastructure for the site. The latter is safeguarded through an under writing agreement with MoD.
