By Najma Sambul
Docklands residents are calling for the site set to be vacated by bulk-buy retailer Costco to be used for the suburb’s first secondary school.
However, rumours are swirling that the 2.9-hectare site on Footscray Road will house a laboratory for Melbourne Pathology after Costco moves to its new $110 million warehouse in Ardeer, in Melbourne’s west, later this year.
Costco is departing Docklands and there is a push to replace it with a secondary school. Credit: Photo: Michael Clayton Jones; Art: Matt Davidson
Melbourne Pathology and Costco declined to comment on the plans for the key Docklands site.
While some Docklands residents fear the loss of big-box retailer Costco will be another blow to the economic viability of the struggling waterfront precinct, others see a golden opportunity to get the site back into public hands and use it for a much-needed educational facility.
The Age’s Docklands series explores what has gone wrong with Melbourne’s most maligned suburb and what could be done to fix it.
Satya Rath moved to Docklands in 2019 because of its proximity to his work at one of the big four banks. He said the suburb was losing families because it had no secondary school.
Satya Rath with daughter Saanvi at a park in Docklands.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“One of my friends has already moved out, the second one is on the verge of moving out because there are no plans for a high school,” said Rath, an IT professional. “The Costco site would be good if it became a school.”
Rath said he was also looking at possibly moving to the south-eastern suburbs before his daughter, Saanvi, who is in grade 5, reaches secondary school.
“I don’t want to leave because I love Docklands, but it’s a big issue; education is really important,” he said.
The suburb was traditionally seen as a neighbourhood for young singles and couples, but the 2021 ABS census shows that families with children are increasingly choosing to live in Docklands, too. The latest census data showed there were 936 couples with children living in Docklands. About 749 couples have children under the age of 15.
City of Melbourne data for 2021 also showed that 11.2 per cent of households in Docklands were made up of couples with children compared with 8.6 per cent in the wider City of Melbourne.
However, a lack of planning for schools and other essential amenities, like parks and libraries, meant the state government was forced to acquire land to build a primary school in Docklands.
There are currently two schools zoned for Docklands residents – Docklands Primary School and University High School in Parkville – but both face overcrowding as enrolments balloon.
Some out-of-zone schools, such as North Melbourne Primary School and Port Melbourne Secondary College, are also options for Docklands residents, but only if the schools have sufficient accommodation.
After an explosion in enrolments at the $58 million three-storey primary school in Docklands, the state government was forced to open a temporary campus at the local shopping centre District Docklands for the next five years.
At University High, overcrowding has meant year 9 classes have relocated to the nearby North Melbourne Primary School.
Greens MP for Melbourne Ellen Sandell said a lack of government planning had plagued Docklands from its inception.
“The government never thought that families would live in Docklands, but surprise, surprise, families do want to live in the inner city, and so there was this explosion of families, naturally,” said Sandell, who campaigned for Docklands Primary to be built.
The Costco site in Docklands.Credit: Joe Armao
“The problem with Docklands is that the government has just let developers pretty much take all the space and retained very little for public purposes.”
The Greens have asked the Allan government to investigate buying back the Costco site for a secondary school. “We haven’t received any reply or anything yet,” Sandell said.
Another option for a secondary school is the new suburb of Arden, which is set to house 20,000 people but so far, plans include only one primary school. “They’re repeating the mistakes of Docklands,” Sandell said.
Costco bought the site from former government development agency VicUrban in 2008. It was formerly part of the Waterfront City precinct, which the Victorian government released to the market via public tender in the early 2000s.
A Development Victoria spokesperson would not disclose the sale cost of the land, citing commercial confidence.
The Victorian School Building Authority has not assessed the Costco site to determine its suitability for a school.
A Department of Education spokesperson said a range of metrics, including residential growth, demographic change and enrolment trends across Victoria, determined the need for new schools.
“This process has resulted in the opening of second campuses for Docklands Primary School and North Melbourne Primary School,” the spokesperson said.
The department is also reviewing secondary provision across Parkville, Flemington, North Melbourne and Docklands given changes in demographics and increased housing density.
“Every student is guaranteed the right to attend their local Victorian government school, and families can also choose to enrol at a school outside their zone if the school has sufficient accommodation,” the spokesperson said.
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