NEWS AND YOUR VIEWS FOR OUR DISTRICT

      

11-Sep-12

Future builders keen to learn

Experienced local builder Tim Magill is set to share his passion for construction with a new generation. In association with NorthTec the owner of Barn Builders Ltd is kicking off a new training and education initiative designed to provide young people with a skill for life, and a future career they can count on.

A rendering of the Mountain Road work camp

Tim’s proposed Mountain Road work camp is an idea mixing the best of old fashioned timber building techniques with modern know-how, to create an immersive learning environment. A recent evening held to gauge public enthusiasm about learning in this hands-on way was a resounding success, with students eager to sign up and get started!

The finished work camp will be a modernised version of the pioneering bush settlements which shaped the Kaipara, without the hardships and depredations which our ancestors faced. While they learn level two carpentry to an NZQA accredited level, students will live on site and actually construct proper wooden framed buildings – something that can’t be achieved in a classroom.

With a start date set for early next year, Tim and his keen ‘recruits’ are looking forward to the experience. And a wealth of experience – real, practical skills for Kiwi building sites – is what his young protégés will take with them into the workforce!