Westmead Catholic schools redevelopment at Darcy Rd divides community

The first stage of a contentious $120 million Catholic education campus opposite Westmead Hospital has been approved but concerns are raised it is at odds with the community’s profile.

The first stage of the Parramatta Catholic Education Diocese’s $120 million Westmead Catholic Community Education Campus has been approved.

In a letter sent to parents and staff on Tuesday, the diocese’s executive director Greg Whitby confirmed the Independent Planning Commission gave the primary school for 1680 students and a church for 400 worshippers the green light.

The five-storey primary school would merge students from Sacred Heart Primary at Ralph St Westmead with Mother Teresa, which is already at the Darcy Rd site.

However, Mr Whitby said no plans had been submitted for the second phase that proposes new facilities for Catherine McAuley and Parramatta Marist that require “a much longer-term program of work”.

Mr Whitby said the project responded to the “needs of our growing local community”.

But a community figure, who did not wished to be named, said the need for such a large primary school was at odds with the suburb’s demographic because “there are very few Catholics in Westmead and the surrounding area’’.

Data in the 2016 census shows 40.8 per cent of Westmead’s 16,309 residents were Hindu and 12.3 per cent were Catholic.

Neighbouring Wentworthville was similar; 34.9 per cent of the 11,300 residents were Hindu — almost double the number of Catholics, who made up 18.9 per cent of the suburb’s population.

However, there are concerns out-of-area families could fill up enrolments at Mother Teresa so their children can automatically be accepted into the popular Catherine McAuley and Parramatta Marist, where 220 enrolment applications had to be knocked back last year. There were 700 applications that had to be rejected for the three schools on the site.

The source said non-local families meant more children would need to be driven to school and that would cripple the already-congested roads.

There will be 6000 students filling the school campus if the State Government approves the controversial Parramatta Diocese project.

However, a Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta spokeswoman said it was confident of strong enrolment demand for Catholic education in the Westmead area.

“The residential growth in the Westmead precinct is forecast to bring 4400 new homes to the area,’’ she said.

“By 2036, it is anticipated that there will be a shortfall of 9530 primary places and 11,738 secondary places in the catchment area, across both the Catholic and government school systems.

“Access to the schools will be through a combination of kiss-and-drop arrangements, walkways, cycleways and public transport. A range of practical traffic management options has been put forward during the planning process for the new primary school to ensure ease of access and good traffic flow in the area.’’

Backlash continues

Despite Parramatta Council not having control of the project’s fate, it had expressed potent opposition to it mainly for traffic reasons.

As well as being opposite Westmead Hospital, the redevelopment is near the under-construction light rail, the nearby future metro and is already home to three schools.

Under the plans, which were largely shelved last year because of coronavirus financial constraints, the schools’ population would soar from 2700 to 6000 students.

Parramatta Lord Mayor Donna Davis said: “With thousands of people travelling to and from the health and education precinct in Westmead every day, effective traffic management in the area is critical. It is for this reason that council has outlined a number of conditions regarding traffic requirements around the proposed Westmead primary school that need to be met if it is to be approved.”

A letter from the council’s city significant development manager, Myfanwy McNally, in September said a link was needed to connect Bridge Rd to Darcy Rd for the projected influx of students at the redeveloped site.

The proposed primary school would have 1680 students.

The letter acknowledged that the diocese would welcome some changes to mitigate the development but “council is still of the opinion that enough has not been done (by the diocese) to secure improved access and connectivity as part of this application’’.

“Council’s approach is to consider measures that could be put in place or secured now to proactively manage the anticipated progression of traffic-related impacts as the school population increases”.

FormerParramatta Lord Mayor Steven Issa, who is the parent of two children at Mother Teresa, objects to the project.

“Traffic is a nightmare and will only get worse as the hospitals and health precinct expand,’’ he said.

“Both private and public hospitals are expanding, there is a new university campus, an increase in residential units. The infrastructure simply can’t cope.’’

Mr Issa said the local and state governments needed to determine how the site should be used.

“Health, tertiary education, residential, primary and secondary education — it cannot be everything,’’ he said.

“Even with metro, it won’t cope. It takes 30 minutes for parents to travel less than 2km to drop off their kids. Once you are north of the Great Western Highway, it’s a mess.’’

Peter Boutros, whose son attends Paramatta Marist, echoed the criticism of the “overdevelopment”.

“The fact they report State Planning has thrown their weight behind the project it still does not detract from the real issues that surround the entire location and local councils still do not approve of the increases in primary student populations and removal of green spaces,’’ he said.

“Traffic congestion is horrendous, construction on the university and residential apartments continue as with the planned upgrades to Westmead private and public hospitals.

“Safety of children, students and public are concerns, with foot traffic between Westmead station and the Darcy Rd site.

“All the above and the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta continues to push this development proposal. I’m just bewildered at the amount of money being wasted on these on and off-again projects for the Westmead site.’’

The Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta spokeswoman said it had engaged in extensive consultation with traffic experts including the council, the Planning Department and Transport for NSW.

She said the consultationled to pick-up and drop-off arrangements on the campus, the construction a high school carpark (on the front lawn of Parramatta Marist) and pick-up and drop-off areas and alterations to intersections to improve access and traffic flow.

Objectors say the Westmead school redevelopment would compound traffic congestion at Darcy Rd, opposite two hospitals

A “green travel plan’’ would be rolled out and students encouraged to catch public transport — something opponents say is unrealistic for primary school pupils.

The spokeswoman said there was a place for education despite the busy location being close to hospitals.

“Schools are a critical piece of community infrastructure, particularly in fast-growing areas,’’ she said.

“As part of the authority assessment and consultation process, NSW Health and NSW Ambulance formally reviewed and responded to the project, with no issues relating to traffic being raised.’’

Despite the diocese slating the school and church to be completed by 2024, the source said it was unlikely to be completed so quickly because a multi-deck carpark on the site of the monastery in front of Parramatta Marist High School must be constructed first.

That project would cost the diocese about $10 million and “two to three years alone” to build.

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