Diocese eyes Oak Flats for $16m school

Sydney
23 February 2003

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Diocese eyes Oak Flats for $16m school

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Diocese eyes Oak Flats for $16m school

At the Oak Flats site, from left: Peter Fogarty, head of administrative services, Catholic Education Office; Tony Abela, diocesan financial administrator; Fr Bryan Jones, Shellharbour City parish priest and vicar general; Gregory Whitby, diocesan director of schools, and Graeme Maynard, diocesan properties manager

By Damir Govorcin

The Church wants to build a $16 million state-of-the-art school at Oak Flats to meet overwhelming demand in the city of Shellharbour on the south coast.

The Catholic Education Office in Wollongong diocese has identified land at Industrial Rd, Oak Flats, that it believes would be ideal for the school, and is now seeking approval from Shellharbour City Council to secure the land for the project.

Greg Whitby, director of schools for the diocese, says there is an urgent need for a second Catholic high school in the Shellharbour area.

"St Joseph's High School at Albion Park simply can't cope with the demand for places," he says.

"And the rapid growth of Shellharbour City and the Catholic primary schools in the area make it imperative that we act quickly to secure a site for a new high school to cater for the next generation of high school students.

"There are also a number of non-Catholic families who want to send their children to our schools, but we are not able to cater for them at the moment.

"We have been working with Shellharbour City Council officers in a bid to find the most suitable site, and we believe the area known as Lot 100 on Industrial Rd at Oak Flats would be perfect."

Mr Whitby says the site would be ideal for a number of reasons: it is only a few hundred metres from the new transport hub at Oak Flats railway station, which would allow a significant number of students to travel by train; it is flat, open land that would be ideal for school buildings, open playground space and sports fields.

And, he said, it is close to a large, growing population, yet would border only a limited number of homes.

Because of its proximity to road and rail infrastructure, it would have minimal impact on Oak Flats.

It is also close enough to St Joseph's to allow the two schools to share facilities such as laboratories.

Mr Whitby said that the diocesan education office wanted to build an exciting new school for the 21st century, with the latest high-tech education innovations and environmentally friendly features.

It would inject $16 million into the project over five construction stages.

"This school would be a substantial asset for Oak Flats, adding value to real estate and stimulating commercial activity in the town centre," he said.

"But, most of all, it would provide a desperately needed educational facility for the fastest-growing part of our region."