Canterbury South Public School $17m upgrade stalled due to traffic concerns
A multi-million dollar plan to upgrade a school in Sydney’s southwest has hit a roadblock with the Education Department forced to prove how it will address traffic concerns with student numbers set to triple if is approved.
The Express
Don't miss out on the headlines from The Express. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Multi-million dollar plans to upgrade Canterbury South Public School have stalled because concerns have been raised about how the surrounding roads will cope with a massive increase in student numbers.
The $17.4 million plans, which include a state-of-the-art school building, was deferred by the Sydney South Planning Panel to a number of outstanding issues.
School Infrastructure NSW wants to build the three-storey building with 30 new classrooms which would cater for almost triple the school’s current population - taking the number of students at the High St school from 287 to 690 and staff numbers from 26 to 58.
The plans also include a new playground, central courtyard and the rearrangement of on-street parking on Napier St which would convert it from parallel to 90 degree parking.
However, additional parking for staff was not part of the proposal.
An assessment report by Canterbury-Bankstown Council has recommended the plans be forwarded to the Planning and Public Spaces Minister for refusal, citing issues including traffic congestion, noise impacts and the effect of the redevelopment on the character of the area due to the proposed building height.
The council has also proposed a link road connecting Napier and France streets to cater for increased traffic volumes.
Canterbury state Labor MP Sophie Cotsis, a former student of Canterbury South Public School, welcomed the investment in education but said residents were concerned about how local roads — already congested and narrow — will cope with the projected growth.
In a submission to the State Government, Ms Cotsis said the school was located in a “highly constrained” road network and was effectively “landlocked”.
“I welcome capital investment in education and capital works in my electorate, more so now with higher rates of unemployment due to COVID,” she said.
“However, residents that envelope the school are very concerned that their views about traffic have not been taken into consideration. We are appealing to the Planning Commission and the Education Infrastructure to consider a better plan.”
The planning panel has requested School Infrastructure NSW provide further information on how it will address traffic and parking impacts, as well as an updated acoustic report and a review of the built form.
A spokeswoman for the Education Department said in response to community feedback the school carpark had been redesigned to include 14 additional car spaces, taking the total available spaces to 28.
The spokeswoman said that equated to one car space for every two staff members.
“The department is conducting a range of investigations including new traffic studies to help reduce congestion and improve community and school safety,” she said.
“The safety of Canterbury South Public School students, staff and community members is the department’s highest priority.”