Caulfield Grammar rebuked by Stonnington Council for sneaky use of property

A Stonnington private school which for more than a decade has used a property it owns on a nearby street for administrative work has received a dressing down from the council after it was discovered it didn’t have permission.

Stonnington Council has rejected a retrospective application for Caulfield Grammar School to register a neighbouring property at its Malvern campus as an educational centre.

A private school has received a dressing down from Stonnington Council for using a building on a Glen Iris residential street without permission for more than a decade.

Caulfield Grammar has owned a property on Willoby Ave for more than 90 years, but for about the past dozen years it has been using a neighbouring property for administrative and office purposes for the campus.

The property at 20 Harold Ave is owned by the school and generally houses eight staff on site.

But it did not have permission to use it as such.

Stonnington Council rejected the school’s retrospective application to use the land as an ‘educational centre’.

Cr Sally Davis said it represented “an incremental expansion of the school and encroachment of a non-residential use into a residential street”.

Neighbouring objectors complained that it was being used as an office and not an education centre, while also fearful that permission would set a precedent for the school to convert other buildings into ‘education centres’ and continue to expand.

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Cr Jami Klisaris said residents did not “have a particularly great relationship with the school”.

“While we need to look at this on its own, it is still part of what’s happening within the entire school,” she said.

“The school is a business, so … we cannot reward this sort of behaviour.

“They have been using this building, technically illegally, the whole time.

“As a business, the school should know better.”

Caulfield Grammar principal Ashleigh Martin said it had provided a junior school education in the Stonnington community for many years.

“Our Malvern campus will continue to provide an outstanding learning environment for our Caulfield Grammar School community, and we will always respect any direction from Stonnington Council,” he said.

“We will liaise closely with the Stonnington Council following the recent decision relating to 20 Harold Ave.”