Council condemn ambitious plan for alternative school

A “student-led alternative” school could be operating inside a restaurant and bar complex in Melbourne’s north if audacious plans are approved, but the local council are fighting back.

Ambitious plans to convert a restaurant and bar complex into a student-led “alternative” school in Melbourne’s north were quashed by the local council.

The plans stated the school would operate as a prep to year 12 school with 130 students and 20 staff at 1075 Heidelberg-Kinglake Rd, which is the site of Bridges restaurant, bar and nursery.

In a meeting on February 28, Nillumbik Council officers recommended the planning application should be rejected on the grounds that it hadn’t provided enough information to make a fully informed assessment of the proposal, including information on bushfire management, as the site is located within the shire’s protected “green wedge” zone.

The plans were submitted to the Victorian planning minister, who progressed them forward to the public submission phase while councillors were away for the holiday period.

Councillor Karen Egan said the plan being progressed was not a “satisfactory outcome from anybody’s point of view”.

“There’s a whole lot of information that we actually haven’t received so it’s been made quite difficult for staff to make a fully informed decision,” she said.

Councillor Peter Perkins said he would support the mayor to write to local MPs to encourage them to object to the application, and urge the planning minister to reject it.

“This application is has ticked all the boxes for a pretty poor application... it should not be supported,” he said.

“We will certainly be appealing if the minister does decide to grant a permit because it flies in the face of everything that we stand for.

“We hope this one is dead and buried because it should be.”

The application was made by Launch Campus, an independent school based in Melbourne’s north that offers “unique alternative primary and secondary school education”.

The “holistic” school house previously ran out of a property in Yarrambat.

“Our focus is on providing a truly holistic, personalised education to each young person with expert guidance and attention from our caring mentors,” reads the school’s vision statement.

“Launch Campus is a primary school for the 21st century, where students are in control of their own learning … Each child has a personalised pathway designed by them, with the help of their guides and mentors.”

A job advertisement for staff members at the school reads: “Seeking mentor to work with young people at a progressive, student-led school … Formal qualifications are not necessary as we will assess applicants on their experience and skills rather than a piece of paper.”

The owner of the school is Shourouk Brookes, also the owner of Bridges restaurant, who said she hoped to simultaneously run the two businesses at the same site.

“The idea is that the students will learn real skills about working with food or working in a nursery,” she said.

Ms Brookes said the school posed no threat to the green wedge area, which encompasses most of the suburbs in Melbourne’s north east around Diamond Creek.

“We’re all about sustainability, we want to teach the kids about protecting the vegetation, flora and fauna,” she said.

In the council report, the plans were objected to on the grounds that there was not a full set of plans provided and there was not enough information included.

“A full set of development plans and details of any proposed buildings and works have not been provided... this includes details of any proposed works to existing buildings, any proposed new buildings or structures, play equipment, sports courts or ovals.”