A proposal to subdivide land and construct a new school for 200 special needs students within the north-western corner of the existing St Peters Catholic College site at 84 Gavenlock Rd, Mardi, is now on public exhibition.
Catholic Schools Broken Bay is seeking to provide inclusive education for students with a disability at the purpose-built school which would be called the Eileen O’Connor Catholic School.
It would provide education, allied health to support tailored interventions, and in-class support for students.
“The development will provide specialised educational facilities for students with a disability on the Central Coast,” the proposal says.
“Many of these students currently have to travel to Sydney or Newcastle for equivalent facilities.”
The school will have frontage to Keefers Glen (western boundary) which will be widened to form a 6m-wide road corridor between Brickendon Ave and Deloraine Glen and provide a shared pathway on the eastern side of Keefers Glen between the school site and Brickendon Ave.
The existing surrounding development predominantly consists of residential development to the south and west.
Further to the west is the M1 Motorway, and further to the south is Tuggerah shopping centre.
The land to the north of the site is zoned C2 Environmental Conservation and contains densely wooded bushland.
Land to the east of the site is zone E3 Productivity Support and E4 General Industrial and contains a mixture of business and light industrial uses.
The proposal has an estimated development cost of more than $20M, making it a State Significant Development.
According to the Catholic School Broken Bay website, Eileen O’Connor (1892-1921) suffered a crippling break in her spine as a three-year-old and was in constant pain throughout her life.
“A visitation from the Blessed Virgin Mary in her teen years encouraged Eileen to offer up her health and suffering for the good of others,” the website says.
She co-founded and led the religious order of Our Lady’s Nurses of the Poor — more commonly known as the Brown Nurses.
She was affectionately nicknamed “The Little Mother”.
“Eileen O’Connor became a Servant of God in August 2018, and is on the path towards becoming Australia’s second saint,” the website says.
Public comment closes on August 20.
Go here to have your say on the Mardi proposal: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/new-eileen-oconnor-school
