Private boys school accused of trying to ‘shoehorn’ campus into inner west

A prestigious private school on the north shore plans to set up a campus for year 9 boys in Sydney’s inner west, amid concerns about traffic chaos during school drop-off and pick-up.

St Aloysius’ College has already advertised for a principal to head its Rozelle campus even though its $2 million proposal is yet to be approved.

St Aloysius’ College plans to build a new campus in Rozelle for up to 200 year 9 students.Credit: Nick Moir

The private boys’ school wants to open a campus for up to 200 year 9 students and 15 staff at a disused Catholic girls’ school on Victoria Road to provide teaching facilities while the main Kirribilli campus is redeveloped.

St Aloysius’ College principal Mark Tannock said the school wanted to create a new “tailor-made opportunity” for boys in the middle years of adolescence.

“We believe we can more effectively respond to the learning and formative needs of boys in a stand-alone campus,” he said. “This program will have a focus on service in the community and will deepen our commitment to educating boys in a faith that does justice.”

Tannock said the Rozelle campus will provide classrooms and an external recreation space for 160 boys next year.

St Aloysius’ College’s main campus in Kirribilli.Credit: James Brickwood

“We are not building any new facilities, just refitting an existing facility so that it can accommodate schooling for boys,” he said. “The works are a light touch and mostly internal.”

Jamie Parker, Greens member for Balmain, said the proposal to renew the vacant site was positive, but it “needs to balance the suitability of the location, concerns raised by residents, and the capacity of local infrastructure”.

“Residents are right to be concerned that an exclusive private school is trying to shoehorn a campus into what is already a very tightly packed part of our community with limited parking and narrow streets,” he said.

An artist’s impression of a classroom at St Aloysius’ College’s proposed Rozelle campus.Credit: St Aloysius’ College

Parker said residents had been “pounded” by years of roadworks associated with WestConnex, which had brought noise, disruption and road closures.

“If it goes ahead we could see almost 200 cars brought to bear on a quiet, narrow local road during pick-up and drop-off every day,” he said.

A number of nearby residents objected to the school’s plans, warning surrounding streets were narrow and would become gridlocked during school drop-off and pick-up.

Residents would be inconvenienced by traffic jams and parking congestion, which also posed a risk to schoolchildren.

Inner West Council also lodged an objection to the proposed new campus because of its impact on parking and traffic, but reversed its opposition after council officers met with planning bureaucrats and the school.

“While the issues were not satisfactorily addressed in the additional information, we are continuing to work with DPE on conditions that will minimise the impacts to the community,” a council spokeswoman said. “Council has withdrawn the objection subject to the inclusion of the conditions.”

St Aloysius’ was overfunded by $1,652,961 in 2021 by the NSW government, according to a report by education economist Adam Rorris commissioned by the NSW Teachers Federation – one of more than 200 private schools given extra state government money.

Classified as a state-significant development, the school’s development application is being assessed by the planning department, which has requested additional information.

But St Aloysius’ is already recruiting staff for the Rozelle campus, which is owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney.

“Term three is when schools throughout Sydney seek to recruit roles for the following year,” Tannock said. “To attract the best candidates possible, it is important to have our leader of this campus in place soon.”

School pick-up and drop-offs are often a contentious issue, with residents complaining that private schools cause traffic congestion and dangerous driving by parents.

The head of SCEGGS Darlinghurst last month said police would be deployed to monitor parents dropping off and picking up children from the prestigious girls school as well as hiring a traffic warden in response to traffic complaints from its inner-city neighbours.

Tannock said the school had worked hard over recent months to respond to concerns about traffic and parking from nearby residents and the council.

“We want to be a good neighbour and to ensure that our impact on traffic and parking is limited,” he said. “We believe that our plans will ensure this.”

Tannock said the school was planning to “integrate successfully” into the local community and regenerate a facility that has been mostly vacant for a long time: “We will be prioritising the use of public transport for our students given their age.”

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