Revealed: Plans for three-storey, 28-room boarding house next to Wyong High School

Plans have been lodged for a three-storey, 28-room boarding house with a ground floor shop and basement parking right next to a Central Coast high school.

A development application (DA) has been lodged for a boarding house for up to 56 lodgers at the end of Jennings Rd right next to Wyong High School.

The DA seeks to knock down a dilapidated weatherboard house on the 877sq m site and build a three-storey, 28-room boarding house with a ground floor shop and basement parking for 16 cars.

The application has been lodge by NCS Ventures Pty Ltd, which Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) records show is owned by Nada and George Saoud, of Strathfield, who purchased the property for $450,000 in June last year.

An artist’s impression of the three-storey, 28-room boarding house right next to Wyong High School. Picture: supplied

Jennings Rd is gated off at the school’s boundary but the DA states the “neighbourhood shop will provide a service to meet the day to day needs of residents in the area, including the adjoining school”.

The shop will have an area of 45sq m and cater for up to two staff, who will be allocated two of the 16 car spaces.

The proposed opening hours are from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturday.

The existing house with Jennings Rd gated off to Wyong High School. Picture: supplied

The building complies with the area’s zoning for a height of 12m but is 38cm above that height on the lift shaft and the applicant is seeking an exemption for the minor overrun.

Joining the shop on the ground floor/basement level will be an entry lobby, toilet, stairway, lift shaft, garbage and recycling area and parking.

On the first floor will be one “adaptable” room, a communal room and a manager’s room.

The second floor comprises one adaptable room, 11 double rooms, lift shaft and

stairway, while the third floor has one adaptable room and six double rooms.

An artist’s impression of the three-storey boarding house and shop next to Wyong High School. Picture: supplied

Each boarding room will have its own bathroom, laundry, wardrobe and kitchen.

The third floor is set back from Jennings Rd “to fit in with the rest of the street and with an external appearance of a two storey development,” according to the DA.

Described in the DA as a “new age boarding house” the proposal includes an internal communal courtyard and communal, landscaped open space at the rear of the property along with private open space exclusively for the manager.

A new 5.95m wide concrete driveway will provide access to the basement car park, which includes six bicycle and six motorcycle parking spots.

The site adjoins Wyong High School on the western and northern boundaries. Picture: supplied

“The impacts on the natural and built environments are of a level considered acceptable for the boarding house and neighbourhood shop development of the scale and nature proposed in this location,” the DA states.

“It is noted that the existing site improvements have reached the end of their useful

economic life and that the existing dwelling are in a relatively poor state of repair.”

The DA describes the surrounding housing at Wyong as “average to below average quality”.

“The proposed development seeks to improve the architectural quality of the area while complying with the height and density requirements under the SEPP (Affordable Housing) and Wyong Local Environmental Plan 2013,” it states.

“The proposed boarding house will have many positive socio-economic benefits for the local community particularly in relation to the provision of much needed short term accommodation close proximity to the Wyong Rail Station and Wyong town centre precinct.”