Skillset Senior College planning move out of old Dubbo TAFE building
Cabins could be transformed into classrooms if a Dubbo high school gets the green light to relocate to a booming educational precinct. FIND OUT WHAT’S PROPOSED.
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A former tourist accommodation facility will be turned into a school if Dubbo Regional Council approves Skillset Senior College’s plan to move into a permanent home.
The Years 10-12 school currently operates out of a former TAFE building on the corner of Fitzroy and Bultje Streets, but wants to relocate to the old Aussie Cabins site on Sheraton Road.
In a development application lodged with council, the school, which is home to 74 students and nine staff members, outlined a range of upgrades it planned to make to 10 buildings on the site.
A kitchen in a large hall will be removed and reconfigured, floors are set to be repaired and replaced and buildings will get a fresh coat of paint.
Doors and windows at the site will also be replaced.
Claire Johnstone, the author of Skillset’s development application, said the proposed relocation would boost the local economy and help the young people Skillset supported.
“The proposal will provide the opportunity for employment opportunities during the construction and operational phases, whilst offering young people of Dubbo and surrounding area a place to undertake high school education in an alternative learning environment to ensure young people have opportunities while at school and after high school,” Ms Johnstone said.
“Skillet Senior College has a large Indigenous cohort with around 30 per cent identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and a significant proportion of students who have one or more disabilities … (it) caters for young people for whom school-refusal and mental health challenges have been major problems.”
A spokeswoman for Aussie Cabins said the business, which operated since 1995, closed in August after the previous owners decided to retire.
Skillset declined to comment.