PLANS for a £5million pioneering training centre for school leavers in Newton Abbot have taken a huge leap forward.

Teignbridge Council is set to sell a plot of land for the new centre on Brunel Industrial Estate to the county council.

Teignbridge Council's executive committee meets today to consider selling the Collett Way site to Devon County Council for £325,000.

The proposal means the education and skills centre moves one step closer to reality.

The proposal has been welcomed by the Sixth Form Partnership, the organisation spearheading the pioneering project, made up of Teign School, Coombeshead College and Newton Abbot College.

The Collett Way site was originally earmarked by Teignbridge Council for a £2.8million business park, but the plans were put on hold last year due to the recession.

The land was identified as a prime location for the vocational centre last October.

The training centre will offer 16 to 19 year olds mainstream vocational courses in beauty therapy, catering and hospitality, health and social care, construction and motor vehicle engineering.

There will also be adult training courses, principally in business and information technology.

In a report to the executive committee, council leader Alan Connett said: "Devon County Council, together with the Learning and Skills Council, have examined a number of sites in and around Newton Abbot for a new skills centre.

"The site at Collett Way meets their requirements in that it has good access to public transport, cycle and walking routes and is within an area of existing business development.

"It also has the important benefit of being immediately deliverable and within their cost estimates."

Teign School head teacher Vyv Game is project executive officer.

He took on the mantle from Coombeshead College's former principal Richard Haigh, who retired as project manager last year.

Mr Game said: "The provision for vocational courses in Newton Abbot at the moment is not that good, and young people have to go to South Devon College, which is quite a long way to go.

"This is a very positive step.

"There has been a lot of good work already carried out by the Sixth Form Partnership and the relationship between the three schools is growing all the time."

The proposal also considers car parking with land at Brunel Road earmarked as part of the plan.

It is hoped the lion's share of funding, £4million, will come from the Learning and Skills Council, but no announcement has yet been made.

If the funding bid is unsuccessful, money will be drawn from elsewhere and up to £1million has already been committed by Devon County Council.

The timescale will be to complete the sale by March 31.

Teignbridge Council has already received formal notification a planning application will be submitted in February.

A council spokesman said: "Our work to sell unneeded assets has been keenly focused on finding the right buyer to ensure positive outcomes for local people, for example selling land at Labrador Bay in Shaldon to the RSPB to use as a cirl bunting reserve."

Newton Abbot College head teacher Gareth Davies added: "This is another step in the right direction.

"We have put a bid into the Learning and Skills Council for the funding and we are waiting to hear from them."