Construction of a Catholic school in Madora Bay has been approved by State planners, with works to begin “imminently” in order to open for the 2025 school year.
St Marcellin Catholic College will be built on the corner of Madora Beach and Mandurah roads, opposite Lakelands Shopping Centre, following approval of plans lodged by Catholic Education WA.
The school land belongs to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bunbury, with Perth Archbishop Timothy Costelloe listed as the owner.
Get in front of tomorrow's news for FREE
Journalism for the curious Australian across politics, business, culture and opinion.
READ NOWThe proposed $14.2 million development will be the 163rd Catholic school in WA and will open with a pre-kindy, two kindy and two pre-primary classrooms, four general learning areas, a covered space and canteen, and a temporary administration building.
The school is slated to open for kindy to Year 2 students at the start of the 2025 school year, with this first stage of the school expected to cater for 260 students, 16 full-time teachers, five part-time teachers and five administrative staff.
Additional year levels will be added annually, eventually expanding to a high school, until it encompasses Year 12 students from 2035.
Plans show classrooms to be built in the northwest section of the site, with future classrooms and a sports oval to the south.
The high school will be built on the southern and western portion of the land, with carparks to run along Eleanore Drive.
At the Metro Outer Joint Development Assessment Panel meeting held on March 20, plans for the school were unanimously supported, following a minor change to one of the conditions of the development.
The landscaping condition was amended to require a landscaping plan to be submitted to the City of Mandurah before landscaping works start, rather than before site works commence.
Clayton Plug, who represented applicant Harley Dykstra Planning and Survey Solutions during the meeting, said this change would mean construction on the site could start “imminently”.
“(The school has) progressed all of their tenders and are seeking to progress construction imminently to meet this timeframe, which means they’ll have to get started with construction very soon,” he said.
During the meeting, Mr Plug also clarified that there would be 67 total parking bays at the school, not 79 as included in the development application.
The parking provided will include nine ‘kiss-and-drive’ bays, with three extra street parking bays on Eleanore Drive.
Mandurah mayor Rhys Williams attended the meeting and described the school as being “much-needed” in a “hyper-growth area”.