Questions raised over new eastern suburbs high school plan

A concept to build the eastern suburbs’ new high school at the site of Waverley bus depot has divided opinion, with some one resident wondering if its location was a ‘convenient land grab’.

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Bold plans to build a high school at the site of the Waverley bus depot have divided residents, with one wondering if its location represented a “convenient land grab”.

Under a concept from CLOSE East — a resident group advocating for a new high school in the eastern suburbs — the Bondi Junction facility would take half of the depot’s land at the corner of Oxford St and York Rd.

It would be mostly two-stories but include a circular four-storey “drum” fronting Oxford St, providing extra space for the up to 1500 students that could enrol there.

Architect drawings of a concept for a new eastern suburbs high school at the site of Waverley bus depot in Bondi Junction, as seen from York Rd. Picture: CLOSE East

The depot itself would also gain a second level, with an underground parking site built below its heritage-listed sheds at the rear of the site.

CLOSE East says the plan would ensure the bus depot remained in public hands, while the school’s height would fit within Waverley Council’s current LEP.

But spokeswoman Licia Heath stressed that the concept’s main aim was to merely show that a school could be built at the site, adding that the group wasn’t “putting a flag in the ground”.

“The political will to find a solution is what we are really pushing for,” she said.

Matthew Taylor, part of a group opposing plans for two 11-storey towers that would be built across the road from the depot and overshadow Centennial Park, wasn’t convinced by the location.

Mr Taylor said the plan had “some merit”, but wondered if “proper analysis” had been carried out into its potential impact on the community.

The school would be built across the road from the site of two proposed towers in Bondi Junction. Picture: CLOSE East

“I think conceptually it’s quite a good idea, but it has to be thought through more,” he said.

“Has there been a spot analysis done, or is this a convenient land grab?”

Mr Taylor said CLOSE East’s idea that students would be able to access Centennial Park as a makeshift play space was a “big assumption”.

However, Wentworth federal Independent MP Kerryn Phelps backed the location that she had flagged as one of four suitable sites for a school in an opinion piece for the Courier in January.

It was the most popular of those four options in a poll on the Courier’s website, gaining 45 per cent of the vote.

Kerryn Phelps and Stephanie Alexander at Bondi Public School

Ms Phelps noted the depot’s proximity to public transport and central location within the eastern suburbs, but said the final decision would be made by the State Government.

“I do think the site at the bus depot is absolutely worth exploring,” she said.

Ms Phelps said the merits of the proposed development across the road should be considered by the Department of Planning in conjunction with the potential of a school, which would be rendered “less user friendly” if overshadowed by the towers.

The entrance to Waverley Bus Depot on Oxford St. Picture: Jenny Evans

Residents on the Save West Bondi Junction Facebook group were divided over the plan.

Howard Parry-Husbands was supportive, saying: “The crucial point is it is not high rise: we can tolerate a high school, not a high rise.”

However, Stephen Cohen said the school would “tower over everything nearby” and Dea Irwin was concerned it could negatively impact on Centennial Park.

The campaign for a new school has become a key election flashpoint in the seat of Coogee, with Labor pledging to build a co-ed facility somewhere in the electorate.