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A north shore private school wants to buy an entire public road so it can expand its senior campus.
North Sydney Council initially rebuffed overtures from Redlands School to purchase Monford Place in Cremorne back in 2021.
The council is more receptive to the idea after the cost of the North Sydney pool rebuild jumped from $58 million to more than $122 million and it was constrained from raising rates by as much as it hoped to meet costs.
The council voted on Monday night to sell the cul-de-sac for “no less” than the independent valuation price, which has not been disclosed.
The council last year investigated selling a portion Edward Street to Shore School in North Sydney.
It exposes long-running tension between the council and private schools that use parks for play time yet do not pay rates; North Sydney Council estimates it is missing out on more than $1 million in revenue from schools.
“It is a very short piece of cul-de-sac. It is entirely surrounded by the school. Its main use is parking for the teachers, that’s why the council was open to exploring the sale,” North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker said.
Not everyone sees it that way. Dominik Przywara, the owner of Strings Embassy, which provides lessons for and rents out string instruments, said his customers used the street’s 18 parking spaces.
“We have a big problem here of parking and density … this street is very, very busy.”
He did not know about the plan to sell the street but said because Military Road is a clearway after 3pm, the 18 car parks in the street were valued by him and his customers who came for lessons.
“The council is charging businesses a lot of money, and small businesses should be supported here, especially in this area … we have a huge rotation of businesses. A lot of businesses are bankrupt.”
Cleaning business owner Lais Ferraz parked in the street every day and said it was useful for her staff.
“It’s terrible. This area is super busy with the commercial side, with restaurants and everything,” she said.
“For the council, it’s money for them. But for the people running a business, living here, it’s not good.”
Neutral Bay resident Glen Curyer, chair of its local precinct committee, said if the council was selling a street used by residents it must disclose the price.
“The street is quite beneficial in the evening even though people from Redlands were parking there during the day,” he said, noting its proximity to a nearby restaurant strip.
He said the fact a school was buying an entire street stoked long-held resentment with how North Sydney area was a focal point for “new and established private schools”.
“We’re near transport, you can ship the students here if you need to, you can drop them off on the way to work,” he said.
He said school students, supervised by teachers, commandeered local parks and used them as playgrounds which effectively meant residents, who pay rates, could not use them during the day.
“That gets up everyone’s nose,” he said.
The potential sell-off of roads comes a year after Baker wrote to local schools asking them to voluntarily pay rates.
They politely declined, citing legislation that states schools must not operate for profit.
In a statement, Redlands said it was committed to ongoing consultation with council and neighbours, noting Monford Place is a no-through lane surrounded by school-owned properties.
“With future generations in mind, we are working towards a vision that would create opportunities to further enrich learning, wellbeing and co-curricular experiences at Redlands as well as contributing positively to our wider community.”
A Shore spokeswoman said with respect to Edward Street, it had previously explored opportunities.
“Any future activity would be subject to appropriate planning, consultation and regulatory processes. Shore is not currently in a position to comment on any future plans,” she said.
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