“We think it makes good planning sense, it’s silly to have a school where 25 per cent of it is in a different council area.”
Dr Burgis said he was grateful for Burwood Council’s “proactive approach”.
Presbyterian Ladies’ College Croydon’s campus map overlaid with council boundary in red. Burwood is to the left and Inner West to the rightCredit: PLC Croydon (edited)
The Inner West doesn’t see things the same way. Byrne, the council’s Labor mayor, is concerned about the other homes not owned by the Presbyterian Church that would be transferred to Burwood under the proposal.
“It’s not right for the boundaries of a municipality to be determined by a private school. We haven’t amended our borders anywhere else and doing so here would set a very poor precedent,” Byrne said.
“Councils are here to act in the public interest, not at the behest of private institutions, no matter how wealthy they are.”
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In 2020 the council voted to block a proposal from the school to permanently close and sell part of Elizabeth Street to the school for private use, to facilitate plans for a new science building.
Those plans have since been withdrawn.
In 2023 the school lodged preliminary plans with the Inner West Council for the demolition of two residential unit blocks near the school for the creation of a new science and technology building.
Part of the plans involve the demolition of tennis courts and part of the school’s aquatic centre facilities for a new sports facility – part of which falls into Burwood’s boundary, meaning the one redevelopment would need to be approved by both councils.
The plans are in the predevelopment application stage, and a final proposal is yet to be submitted to Inner West Council.
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