Expansion Plan Upsets Colleges

By NICHOLS, Lane

A WELLINGTON Christian school’s bid to expand into a high school is sparking opposition from two neighbouring colleges — and Government House, home of the governor-general.

St Mark’s Church School has 550 pupils at pre-school, primary and intermediate level, plus a few in year nine.

But the independent co-ed has applied for resource consent to develop its Dufferin St site, opposite the Basin Reserve, to cater for at least a further 200 pupils at secondary level.

Principal Tina Leach said her pupils excelled so the board wanted a secondary option for parents.

The school planned to demolish a vicarage and hall, and build a gym, new classrooms and a car park building for 70 vehicles.

The plan is opposed by the neighbouring Wellington East Girls College and Wellington College, because of traffic congestion problems and safety fears from more traffic.

The Dufferin St area is already crammed with parents’ cars dropping children off at the school during mornings and afternoons.

Wellington College also has visual concerns and shading issues on its grounds.

Both colleges plan to lodge submissions opposing the development.

Government House, with its main driveway at the end of Dufferin St, is also submitting but will not say if it supports the development.

The Dominion Post understands it is opposed, for similar reasons.

Wellington College headmaster Roger Moses said his college had previously let St Mark’s use its sports grounds as the school did not have any of its own.

But the arrangement could be reviewed if the primary school began feeding pupils to a “competitive” secondary.

“We have been fairly generous. The board would certainly retain the right to review that.”

Wellington East board chairman Simon Tyler said the area was a badly congested drop-off point used daily by about 3000 pupils from the three schools.

“We struggle to see how another 250 students plus a car park building will do anything but increase that. We don’t think it’s (the building plan) sending the right signals.”

Mrs Leach said the school managed traffic flow at drop-off and pick-up times but was not the only source of traffic congestion.

It had worked with Wellington College and Government House to modify building designs and agreed not to increase its use of the college sports grounds once numbers grew.

“The object of this is not to take students away from other schools. We actually offer a unique form of education to students and parents should have the choice.”

Submissions close on Thursday. A consent hearing will be held later this year.

——————–

(c) 2007 Dominion Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.