CONSTRUCTION of the new learning campus proposed for the Corus steelworks site in Ebbw Vale could begin next year, council chiefs have revealed.

It is hoped the 50-acre campus, which will provide all post-16 education in Blaenau Gwent, could be open by 2008.

Blaenau Gwent council says the learning campus is now taking shape and will cost around £67 million.

It will include lecture facilities, teaching space, leisure centre/theatre, a students' union, residential developments and environmental wetlands area.

Demolition work on the Corus site - where the steelworks closed down in July 2002 - is said to be proceeding well and is scheduled for completion by next month.

The site will then be cleared and could pass into public ownership by July, for reclamation work to be undertaken by the Welsh Development Agency.

The reclamation of the whole site will be required before construction of the campus can begin.

Specialist consultants are now to be commissioned to prepare the business case for the campus. A shortlist of seven companies has been prepared.

The business plan will be to source funding and provide financial modelling, to demonstrate how the campus can be successfully run for the first six years.

Councillor Brian Scully, who chairs the Strategic Partnership driving the campus forward, said: "The business plan will be the key to the whole project and we anticipate the campus being open during 2008.

"It will be a major catalyst for regenerating the entire area, as well as being a state-of-the-art learning environment to excite and generate interest for learners of all ages."

Jeffrey Robinson, acting principal of Coleg Gwent, said the college was delighted to be working with others on the partnership, to "ensure the vision we share becomes a reality".

"The campus will provide enhanced opportunities and better prospects for people throughout this community and beyond," he said.

Professor James Lusty, vice-chancellor of the University of Wales College in Newport, said: "We are delighted at the continued progress of the learning campus, as it is part of our mission to bring learning right to the heart of our community."