Hansard debates

Ella GEORGE (Lara) (19:08): (1792) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning, and I ask the minister to provide advice on how local residents can provide feedback to planning proposals under planning provisions clause 53.19 in relation to planning permits for non-government schools. I have recently heard from many residents across the communities of Anakie and Staughton Vale, who have raised concerns about a proposal for 155 Staughton Vale Road, Anakie. This proposal is for a local private school, Bacchus Marsh Grammar, to expand their current agricultural campus and build a 450-student private primary school in Staughton Vale. In 2015 the school proposed a 15-year road map, which included a plan to grow to a 1500-student, $25 million campus. This was rejected by local government, following local opposition and a rigorous planning process. At VCAT level the plans were negotiated down from this massive student campus to a site that could accommodate a maximum of 150 students at any one time.

Local residents have concerns about the appropriateness of the current proposal, and these are not simply a case of ‘not in my backyard’. Residents are particularly worried about several issues, including safety, with the site sitting within a bushfire overlay, raising significant fears about evacuation safety, especially since the only access road doubles as the town’s main evacuation route; and also that the rural, farming-zoned location lacks basic infrastructure to support a large-scale development such as this and the increased infrastructure and amenities that will be required to sustain it. As such my local community want some advice around the process involved in this proposal and how they can ensure their voices are heard in this matter.