Population growth, demand for education spurs developers to sell school site at Skyridge in Worongary

With long waits for student enrolment and a skyrocketing population, developers are forging ahead with a brand-new school to meet demand. FIND OUT WHERE

Developers are selling off 5ha in a new 3500-home estate so a school can be built.

It is hoped a Prep to Year 12 independent school, childcare centre and co-use facilities will be included in the $1.5bn SkyRidge development in Worongary, to ease demand on saturated educators in central Gold Coast.

The SkyRidge community in Worongary, which will eventually include 3500 homes and a retail village, covers more than 340ha. About 4.9ha is being sold to build a school. Picture: Supplied

SkyRidge sales director Brinton Keath said the city’s increasing population, coupled with a lack of new schools in the area, had placed unprecedented demand on enrolments.

“The Gold Coast is experiencing rapid population growth driven by the relocation of families from the metropolitan areas of southern states, which is also compounding waiting lists for enrolments,” he said.

The proposed entry into SkyRidge. Picture: Supplied

“New schools to meet this demand are now non-existent in the central Gold Coast as the vacant sites are not available.”

SkyRidge this week launched an expression-of-interest campaign for the 4.9ha site.

Mr Keath said it would provide a “blank canvas for any education provider to masterplan a quality school in a new community that will deliver up to 3500 dwellings”.

The town will eventually be home to more than 3000 families.

A Bulletin investigation last November found the Gold Coast was growing so fast it would need up to 37 new schools in the next two decades, 17 alone before the 2032 Olympic Games.

Artist impressions of the SkyRidge development at Worongary.

The city was previously not expected to reach those heights until 2050.

State government data obtained by the Bulletin revealed that five schools would be needed in Coomera and Pimpama in the next 10 years and up to three for Surfers Paradise, Mermaid Beach and Broadbeach. These would be a mix of public and non-state schools.

The first six stages of SkyRidge, totalling 322 lots, have been approved by council and site works, including earth moving and infrastructure upgrades, have been underway since February 2021.

The $1.5bn Worongary development was formerly known as Pacific View Estate.

Construction of the school site itself will be completed in early 2023.

Home sites in the initial stages range from 240sq m to 900sq m. The average lot size will be about 450sq m.

SkyRidge is being undertaken through a joint venture between Perth-based Perron Group and Gold Coast investor Ross Atkins, who secured rights to develop the 342ha site in 2006.

Originally published as Population growth, demand for education spurs developers to sell school site at Skyridge in Worongary