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Hamilton SHS site set for urban redevelopment upon closure

Bryce LuffFremantle Gazette

THE HAMILTON Senior High School (HSHS) site is set for urban redevelopment, once the school closes at the end of 2017.

The school will merge with South Fremantle Senior High School, which will reopen as Fremantle College.

LandCorp was recently selected by the State Government to transform the 15.3ha HSHS site, having delivered similar projects at former schools in Coolbellup and White Gum Valley.

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Chief executive Frank Marra said a community forum would be held by LandCorp on Wednesday night, where the community can help shape the development.

It is one of a number of steps that should keep the agency on track to lodge a local structure plan with the City of Cockburn in mid-2017.

“Hamilton Hill is an area with a proud history in the heart of the City of Cockburn,” Mr Marra said.

“The high school site will provide a unique opportunity for well-planned urban regeneration that will provide increased housing choice and diversity just 8km from Cockburn Central.”

A Department of Lands spokesman, who would not offer an estimate of the land’s value, said LandCorp would undertake site demolition and planning to ensure the asset was put to the market ready for development.

“This approach allows the State, on behalf of all Western Australians, to capture the greater value for the property before releasing it to the market,” he said.

Cockburn planning and development services director Daniel Arndt said the City was in discussions with LandCorp but was yet to take any firm view about how the site should be developed.The $30 million redevelopment of South Fremantle SHS in preparation for the merger should be offset by the sale of land tenanted by HSHS.

Education Department infrastructure executive director John Fischer said upgrades “are running on time and on budget”.

“The construction of the new two-storey building which will house performing arts facilities, general classrooms, science laboratories and a student services centre is underway,” he said.

“In addition to the new building, upgrades to the existing administration building, design and technology workshops and information technology laboratories have begun.”

What: LandCorp Community Forum

When: Visit anytime between 4.30pm and 8.30pm on Wednesday, November 23

Where: Hamilton Senior High School staffroom