The new Perth primary school that will be so big it’ll need 240 parking bays

A new multimillion-dollar primary school in Perth’s eastern suburbs would be so big, catering for 1000 students, that it would come complete with 240 parking bays, and shelter for 110 bikes plus 42 scooters.

In December 2023, the state government announced funding for a $36.8 million public primary school in the City of Armadale, with the planning name ‘Wungong Primary School’.

It is now under consideration by DevelopmentWA.

The school would be built in two stages, with the first accommodating up to 540 students from kindergarten to year 6 upon opening in 2026.

Once the second stage is complete, the school plans to cater for an increased capacity of 1000 students.

But the proposal also includes 10 general learning and two early childhood transportable classrooms, increasing the potential capacity to 840 students before stage two.

“Whilst the transportable classrooms are not likely to be placed on site for the opening of the school, they are included in this development application to remove the need for additional approvals when they are required,” a development application report reads.

“The proposal provides for a new primary school which aims to provide solutions for increasing student demand within the locality.”

If the school hit 1000 students, it will become one of the biggest in Perth with only four other primary schools over 1000 students as of 2023.

The two biggest schools, Brabham and Harrisdale, are both relatively new builds for the WA Education Department – opening in 2021 and 2016 respectively – and have catered for a huge growing population in their catchment areas.

As house prices continue to rise, more people are moving to the more affordable suburbs on Perth’s urban fringes.

Prices in Armadale had the highest 12-month value growth to March, rising 28.6 per cent to over $600,000 according to CoreLogic data, demonstrating the increased demand for the region.

Research director Tim Lawless said the rise in prices was because of strong demand pressures and no adequate supply response.

If approved, the primary school would be the first school to open in the Wungong Urban Master Plan in Hilbert – one of the newest suburbs in Perth.

It is the largest single master-planned project in WA, which DevelopmentWA hopes will house 40,000 people once finished.

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