BUILDING work for a new university technical college begins today.

The work at UTC@harbourside, which opens in Newhaven in September 2015, will begin after plans were approved in July to create the state-of-the-art college.

Lewes District Council Planning Committee gave the green light to the proposal to convert and extend the Grade II listed marine workshop and carpenters workshops at Railway Quay, Newhaven, and demolish other buildings to create the state-of-the-art college.

There will also be a riverside boardwalk alongside the UTC.

Parents and students will have a first chance to meet the UTC’s newly appointed head, Jon Clarke, and hear about the college at an event at Veolia’s Energy Recovery Facility in North Quay Road, Newhaven, next Wednesday from 10am to 3pm.

Mr Clarke said: “We will offer an outstanding academic and technical education for 14 to 18-year-olds interested in science, engineering, technology and maths. “Focusing on the specialist skills in demand by the growing marine engineering and environmental technology sectors, the involvement of employers will help students develop entrepreneurial and employability skills which will make them stand out in today’s competitive jobs market.”