The St Philip’s Christian College Education Foundation has revised its plans for a new school at Charmhaven to cater for a new road connecting the school and the Pacific Highway.
A request for DPIE for revised SEARs shows that the Foundation has made several changes to the school designs.
They include the new road linking out to the Pacific Highway that connects Charmhaven and Doyalson; the replacement of an AFL and cricket field with a Rugby Union and Soccer field, plus a complete redistribution of school buildings that will see the primary, middle and senior schools clearly separated.
St Philip’s bought the 40ha parcel of land between Arizona Rd and the Pacific Highway in 2020.
It is proposed to start as a kindergarten to Year 6 school for 500 students and growing to cater up to Year 12 with more than 1,500 students.
St Philip’s Christian College is an independent organisation that oversees a group of schools and early learning centres across the Hunter and Central Coast regions, providing education to over 4,300 young people from pre-kindergarten to Year 12.
A report initially submitted with the first proposal said the school development would have an “extremely positive social impact in the North Wyong sub-region by providing high quality, low cost, independent education to service a rapidly growing population”.
Estimated capital investment value for the entire school is $204.5M, and on completion, the school is expected to support 125 full time equivalent jobs.
The proposal is being handled by the NSW DPIE as a State Significant Development and St Philip’s has now submitted a second request for Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs).
The SEARs set out information that must be addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Once received, the EIS will go on public exhibition for community feedback and a detailed assessment will be undertaken by the Department before a final decision is made.
St Phillips were approached for comment.
Nicola Riches