Green light for St Dominic’s learning centre
Local
In what has been a politically sensitive process spanning nearly three years, St Dominic’s Priory College has finally received the green light for the development of a new Year 12 learning centre.
Work on the $3.3 million centre, located opposite the college on Hill Street, North Adelaide, has started and is expected to be completed for the 2019 school year.
The development will provide new classrooms for Year 12 students and also utilise an existing residence.
“It will be a beautiful addition to our college when it is completed,” said principal Sr Jillian Havey.
“Building the new centre means we will also free up space on our existing site to accommodate the additional Year 7s who will join us for the first time next year.”
Sr Havey said planning constraints had hampered the proposed development for several years and she expressed her thanks to the Minister for Planning John Rau for using his rights within the Planning Act to finally enable the project to proceed.
“St Dominic’s has been here educating girls for 134 years and for the past 40 years there have been several attempts to enable the college to expand,” she said.
“Getting this approval has not been easy.”
Since 2014, 11 colleges and institutions in North Adelaide have engaged with the City of Adelaide Development Plan Amendment consultations looking to the future of their sectors.
In May last year the amendments to enable colleges to have the right to legitimate expansion were gazetted with the approval of Minister Rau however, the Adelaide City Council lodged an appeal with the Environment Resources and Development committee, further delaying St Dominic’s application.
With approval granted last month, Sr Havey said there was now a flurry of activity. She thanked Swanbury Penglase architect Kon Michael who has been with the project from the start. Mossop Constructions and Interiors will build the Year 12 centre.
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