Geoff Helisma | Minister for Tourism and Major Events, and Assistant Minister for Skills Adam Marshall joined Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis and Clarence Valley’s mayor, Jim Simmons, to turn the first sod at TAFE NSW’s Connected Learning Centre (CLC), which will cover approximately 2,300sqm of the Treelands Drive site. The centre is expected to be completed in December 2018. “This new $5.88million [CLC] is set to transform education delivery in Yamba and across the Lower Clarence,” Mr Marshall said. He said students will be able to access “world-class education locally” to “become job ready and meet the skill needs of their local community”. Mr Gulaptis said “local residents have been calling for expanded educational opportunities for a long time”. He said he was “thrilled” about the establishment of a “permanent TAFE NSW presence in Yamba”. The CLC will “utilise modern, digitally-enabled technologies, such as simulation and virtual reality, to offer a wide range of accessible, practical, and flexible learning options”, according to the council’s plan of management for the Treelands Drive reserve. “The on-going maintenance and operation of the Yamba Connected Learning Centre will be funded by TAFE NSW.”