Construction starts on new state-of-the-art £1.2 million building at Kingston Maurward College

Construction has started on a new state-of-the-art £1.2 million building at Kingston Maurward College.The new agri-tech building is located at the on-campus Stinsford Farm, at the western side of the campus, close to the Stinsford roundabout.The building is expected to be completed by May 2016.It will provided a much needed agricultural classroom, IT and machinery facilities and replace outdated equipment and an obsolete animal shed on the farm.Kingston Maurward believe the plans will bring the college to the forefront of agricultural training in the region and provide even better education for its students.The building has been designed by A&Q architects and is being constructed by specialists Spetisbury.The college managed to acquire funding from the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership.The funding was provided to help drive economic growth in Dorset.Project manager and Kingston Maurward premises and estates manager, Kim Payne said the new building was necessary to allow the college to teach best practice.Plans for the site were approved by West Dorset District Council in October 2015, with the case officer David Hodges saying in his report that the building will provide better facilities for existing course at the college.The farm at Kingston Maurward is used as both a teaching resource for its land-based courses whilst also running as a commercial mixed farming operation to provide financial returns to the college.This allows students to be fully involved with commercial arable and livestock systems.Kingston Maurward offers full and part-time course as well as apprenticeships and higher education qualifications and the new building will join a long list of top of the range facilities at the campus.The 750 acre site composes the Georgian house, the farm, laboratories, training areas, an animal care unit and equestrian arenas.