Frenchs Forest town centre plan in doubt after education officials baulk at relocating high school
Residents are left in limbo after the Education Department baulks at moving The Forest High School to make way for the new Frenchs Forest town centre.
Manly
Don't miss out on the headlines from Manly. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The future of the much vaunted new town centre for Frenchs Forest has been thrown into doubt after education authorities confirmed they may not move The Forest High School.
Relocating the school is crucial to allow rezoning for the high-density precinct next to Northern Beaches Hospital.
If the school does not move to its proposed new site on the Warringah Aquatic Centre Reserve, the draft town centre plan — first exhibited in 2016 after four years of planning — will have to be radically altered.
It is understood that the Education Department is baulking at moving the school due to the high cost of relocating and the impact on students and staff.
Questions were raised late last year about the suitability of the aquatic reserve for a school because it used to be a large landfill site.
A senior planning source said the draft town centre plan was finished, but its release is being delayed because the Education Department is considering keeping the school at its current location.
Frenchs Forest residents and developers have been waiting on the Department of Planning to release the draft plan for the town centre, expected to accommodate up to 3000 new high-density dwellings, since March 2018.
Householders are keen to know the extent of rezoning because it effects decisions about whether they stay in the area or sell to developers.
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said in July last year that rezoning details would be released by the end of 2019, but in December the Planning Department said they would now be released some time in 2020.
The Education Department said this week that while it was considering “all options” about the school’s future location, the “needs of the students and staff are at the forefront of whatever decision is finally made”.
A spokesman confirmed that it has not made a final decision on the relocation.
“The relocation is dependent on negotiations with the Northern Beaches Council and other state government departments.
The timing of the decision is dependent on the complex issues to be considered across the council and multiple (government) departments.”
A Planning Department spokesman said it, too, was working closely with the council and the Department of Education to confirm plans for the future location of school.
“Fast-tracking jobs, infrastructure and services needed to support the growing Frenchs Forest community and the vibrant revitalisation of the area is a key focus of the Department,” the spokesman said.
Resident Ken Burton, who lives on the northern side of the proposed precinct, said he was still desperate to hear if his land was to be rezoned.
“We have been living in limbo since 2014 over this,” Mr Burton said. “I want to know how our lives will be impacted.”