Kilsyth former Pembroke Secondary College site: Council to buy site

The community is celebrating after an outer eastern council agreed to spend more than $6 million to save an old Kilsyth school site.

Yarra Ranges councillors are set to consider a plan to buy the former school site at 150 Cambridge Rd Kilsyth, and keep it for community use.

The community is celebrating after Yarra Ranges councillors agreed to spend more than $6 million to buy an old Kilsyth school site and turn it into a bushland reserve.

Councillors voted unanimously at their meeting on Tuesday night to support a plan for the council to buy the old Pembroke High School site on Cambridge Rd from the state government for $6.44 million.

More than 4000 colourful ribbons were strung along the old site last year, as residents campaigned for the 3.58ha site to be turned into a reserve, noting the lack of open space in Kilsyth.

If the council didn’t buy the site, it could have been sold to developers and turned into a housing estate.

In a post on the Save 150 Cambridge Rd Kilsyth Facebook page, community members celebrated the news.

“Thank you to everybody who has been a part of this journey and helped in this campaign,” a post said.

“There are tears of happiness in the community now, for our children and for our children’s children.

“This land will always be so precious to us.”

Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting, community campaigner Shelley Large said most Kilsyth residents didn’t have the luxury of a big backyard, and there was a desperate need for passive open space in the area.

“To pass the opportunity to acquire this site and add it to the existing Elizabeth Bridge Reserve would be a tragedy indeed,” she said.

Cr Len Cox said the future of the site was “one of the more important issues council has dealt with for many years”.

Cr Cox said Kilsyth had become a “very dense” suburb over many years, with lots of backyards disappearing and houses knocked down and replaced by medium density units.

“There just isn’t the available recreational space for people living in that area that there used to be,” he said.

“If we can buy this (site) the benefit would be immense, not just in Kilsyth (but for those living in surrounding areas).”

Cr Cox said $6.5 million was “a lot of money” but it was important to keep in mind it was half of what the state government could have got if it sold the site to a developer.

“We can (buy the site) and have this wonderful block of land which I’m sure in time will be developed into an outstanding piece of parkland,” he said.

“It’s not often council gets the chance to do something which is obviously what the public wants.

“I think we’ve got a chance to do something … that will be remembered for years to come by this community and we’ll be creating something which will be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Cr Cox said the reserve could become a similar attraction to the popular Lillydale Lake in the future.

The council will now start community consultation on its plan to buy the site.

It plans to use public open space funding for Walling Ward, and will look to sell four parcels of surplus council land in the local area, to help pay for the site.