State government reassessing commitment to $60m Le Cordon Bleu cooking school at Lot Fourteen

Plans to move TAFE SA’s cooking school to Lot Fourteen have taken a major hit, with the state government reviewing its commitment.

A $60m world-class cooking school planned for Lot Fourteen is in jeopardy, with the state government reviewing its commitment to the project.

Touted as a major feature of Lot Fourteen on North Tce, the new culinary school was to replace the ageing Le Cordon Bleu facility at TAFE SA’s Regency campus.

Treasurer Rob Lucas has now revealed the Liberal Party election promise has stalled, with Le Cordon Bleu and TAFE SA reluctant to move.

“That is not proceeding very quickly at all at this stage,” Mr Lucas told a Budget and Estimates committee on Wednesday.

Mr Lucas said there had been “a number of issues” that stemmed from Le Cordon Bleu and TAFE SA.

Artists impressions of the state government’s plan for an international school of culinary excellence at Lot Fourteen.

“They have long-term arrangements in relation to their position (at Regency) and under what conditions they might be prepared to move to Lot Fourteen,” he said.

“And there are some significant issues in relation to TAFE SA, which we have addressed in other fora in relation to the role.”

When asked by Opposition treasury spokesman Stephen Mullighan if the government was still committed to the school, Mr Lucas said: “The government is reassessing its position at the moment in relation to that particular project, as to how that project might be delivered”.

“I am not in a position at this stage to throw any more light on that other than the fact that we are reassessing the commitment.”

Headquartered in Paris, France, Le Cordon Bleu is an institution operating culinary and hospitality schools across the world.

Steven Marshall, when he was in Opposition, at the TAFE cooking school in Regency Park in February 2018, announcing plans to move the school to Lot Fourteen. Picture: Mike Burton/AAP

Just weeks before he was elected Premier in March 2018, Steven Marshall pledged $60m to establish an international school of “culinary excellence, hospitality and tourism” on the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site.

Mr Marshall at the time said it would make Adelaide a “beacon” for international hospitality students. In 2019, he committed $30m to the school, on top of another $30m pledged by the federal government.

Mr Mullighan said it was “beyond belief” the government had committed to the project “without checking” whether Le Cordon Bleu or TAFE SA was willing to relocate.

“It’s clear this is yet another broken election promise from Steven Marshall,” Mr Mullighan said.

TAFE SA chief executive David Coltman said “international border closures and declining student enrolments in some course areas” was “prompting further thinking” about the project.

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