By Eleanor Wilson
Plans to build a Catholic school in the Casey Foothills were this week rejected, after Casey Council’s decision to deny a permit for the site was affirmed by the state’s planning tribunal.
Pared Victoria proposed to develop land for a faith-based boys school of 239 students and 22 staff in grazing land on Horswood Road in Narre Warren North.
But in an order on 4 October, Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal member Michael Nelthorpe denied a permit for Lysterfield Lake College, stating the building plans would not be suitable for the topography of the site.
“This school is too large for its site and that the site’s topography cannot accommodate the proposed earthworks without compromising the landscape values of the Zone and the Significant Landscape Overlay,” he said.
Mr Nelthorpe said the school would be acceptable if the site was flat or significantly larger.
“Ultimately, this proposal fails on its site selection. The earthworks required to build this school on this sloping site are contrary to the planning policies and controls that seek to preserve the hilly terrain of the Casey Foothills.”
It is a major set back for the school, which opened in January this year for boys in Year 3 to Year 6.
The school currently rents classrooms at its sister campus, Harkaway Hills College, a girls school also run by Pared Victoria.
As of 30 August, Lysterfield Lake College operated with 54 students and four full time staff.
In a statement, the college said it was disappointed by VCAT’s decision.
“We are currently considering the decision and will investigate what options may now be available to us,” the college said.
“It would not be appropriate to comment further at this time as we are yet to fully consider the decision and our options.”
The site is a vacant eight hectare grazing property at the end of Horswood Road, bordering on Lysterfield Lake Park.
Located in a Green Wedge Zone, the school would provide primary and secondary school education to boys between Year 3 and Year 12.
The two-stage proposal for Lysterfield Lake College was initially opposed by both Casey Council and the Green Wedges Guardian Alliance (GWGA), who argued it was “another inappropriate urban use in the Green Wedge”.
Casey Council said the “more isolated location, scale of the school proposed and the apparent lack of any meaningful connection to the green wedge” were main contributors to their objection.
The Pared education philosophy teaches the Catholic faith and believes that parents are the primary educators of their children. It includes one-on-one mentoring of students by staff and has a focus on outdoor education.
