THE Northwich Vision project is under way with the launch of its first initiative - the redevelopment of Northwich Railway Station.

The dilapidated Victorian station will be transformed into a state-of-the-art community learning centre, offering people the chance to access a range of online courses.

The redeveloped building will also include a cyber caf, training rooms and a coffee shop.

The development will cost £500,000 and funding has been secured through a partnership involving Vale Royal Borough Council, the Northwest Development Agency, the Learning and Skills Council and Passport to Success.

Julia Dowd, executive director of the Learning Skills Council, said the funding it was providing would dramatically increase people's learning and training opportunities.

\She said: "The station will become the key point for the development of lifelong opportunities for people in east Northwich and will help them to develop the knowledge and skills that employers in the area need."

Clr Brian Clark, chairman of the Passport to Success board, said the learning facility would help it to retrain people who were long-term unemployed.

And Clr John Grimshaw, on behalf of the Community Safety Partnership, believed the regeneration would help to rid the station of its reputation as a hotspot for anti-social behaviour.

The redevelopment follows several years of complaints about the state of the station, as it has fallen further and further into disrepair.

Residents and politicians have called for work to be done on the building, and in August this year, Northwich rail enthusiast Mike Letz made the symbolic gesture of nominating it for the JPD Best Kept Station award.

He said: "I thought that if I nominated the station, it might inspire others to join me in the campaign to help this station return to its former glory."

The Northwich Vision aims to capitalise on the £28million salt mine stabilisation project and turn the town into one of the most vibrant in the north west.

rbabington@guardiangrp.co.uk