Alpha Developments proposal for school at Alphington paper mill site
KIDS would get less outdoor space than free range chickens under a new plan to slap a primary school in the middle of a shopping centre complex in Alphington.
North
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PLANS to put a primary school campus in the middle of a five-storey shopping complex have shocked parents and friends of the community.
The proposal for the former Alphington paper mill site would slot the school across three levels, sandwiched between two supermarkets, a public food court and commercial office space.
Developers also propose to include two cafes and a gym on the same floor of the school.
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The building has been proposed by Alpha Developments as part of extensive work on the old paper mill site.
The community had lobbied for a school on the site since 2013 but only discovered the plans when they were revealed to the public at a Yarra council meeting in May.
Parent Todd Perry, who has two children at the school, said the plans were totally inappropriate and they were “getting short changed as a community”.
Parents have raised a number of issues with the site including the safety of students in a public building, concerns of pollution, and the lack of open space.
An outdoor play area is provided for students but plans show each child will get about two square metres of open space in the main outdoor play area.
By comparison, the CSIRO recommends free range chickens are allowed about six and a half square metres.
Children who ride their bikes to school will also be required to use the multi-level basement carpark, along with other shoppers, to store their bikes and take the stairs or lift up to the school.
Alphington Primary parent Melinda Fitzgibbon said the plans were unacceptable and parents were concerned about a range of issues.
“How are staff and teachers going to maintain security when the school is sitting in such a public space?” she said.
“I can’t make logical sense of it.”
The State Government allocated $4.5 million in the 2016-17 state budget for a new school campus in response to desperate lobbying from the community.
The school has had a 50 per cent increase in enrolments in the past seven years and has had to convert a music room, library centre and undercover play area into new classrooms for students.
Up to 70 students are taken to a nearby public park to play at lunchtime, because there is no room to play at the current campus.
Department of Education and Training spokeswoman Linh Salisbury said the department was considering a number of options to increase the school’s capacity, but did not name which options were being considered when asked.
Negotiations between the developers and the department are ongoing.
Parents were also concerned about the future expansion of the school campus, given it is fully enclosed inside a public building.
The development plan proposed the school would be capped at 300 students and 12 staff.
“They should have been forward thinking,” Mr Perry said.
“When the AMCOR site was sold off … nothing happened and then you get to the eleventh hour and the developers are developers, they’re all about maximising profits, they’re not about maximising social benefit.”
“The developers have spent all this money on their food precinct and getting a celebrity chef,” Ms Fitzgibbon said.
“It’s like (the school) is an afterthought.”
The Department of Education and Training will be consulting with the community before the final decision is made by the government.
Alphington Primary School declined to comment.
Alpha Partners did not respond to requests for comment.
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