Capita boosts £10m Welsh college

A £10.3m scheme to build a new "educational village" at a college site specialising in land-based skills has moved a step closure to completion.

Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor has appointed consultant Capita Symonds to manage the design of the scheme at Glynllifon near Caernarfon, Gwynedd.

The college announced in July that it had secured assembly government funding to develop the site. It is hoped the project will be completed by 2011.

The college already offers a range of agricultural and land management courses for students aged between 14 and 19 at the campus in the historic grounds of the Glynllifon estate.

The project involves building a new teaching block and updating residential accommodation on the site.

Capita Symonds have been brought in to develop the designs and feasibility of the scheme before being forward for full detailed planning permission.

Paul Terry, the director of the company's Colwyn Bay office told the BBC: "I am very proud of what we have managed to achieve and the way in which the offices have worked together on the scheme.

"It has been quite a buzz for us - we went from a call one Thursday to the 3D images, plans and elevations for a potential scheme and a full grant application in less than three weeks."