Yanchep Lagoon Primary School redevelopment plans approved

YANCHEP Lagoon Primary School’s $11.3 million redevelopment has received planning approval.

The Metro North-West Development Assessment Panel conditionally approved the State Government’s plans to demolish parts of the Primary Road school and rebuild it on Tuesday, June 4.

One of the conditions required that the site’s bush fire prone status be added to the land title before construction started.

Another required that 55 extra tree plantings from 100-litre pots be provided on the 4.12ha site before the completed redevelopment was occupied.

A Finance Department report presented to the panel said 52 of the 183 native trees onsite had to be removed to facilitate the development, five of which were in poor health.

Formerly Yanchep District High, the school started in 1975, and upgrades were promised during the 2017 State Election.

“The school currently accommodates approximately 320 students and 40 staff,” the report said.

“Comprehensive redevelopment and refurbishment is proposed to bring it in line with a new standard pattern primary school.

“Following completion of the upgrade, the school will be able to accommodate 430 students and 43 staff.”

The report said, prior to 2017, the site accommodated the district high school with 710 students.

Construction is planned over two stages, building a new kindergarten and pre-primary block, teaching blocks, library, parking, covered assembly and bird cage.

The report said existing access from Primary Road would be retained, with extra vehicle access created from Lagoon Drive to new drop-off and parking areas.

“The proposed development will provide a total of 126 car parking bays,” it said.

“Overflow parking can also be accommodated with the Oldham Park car park (for about) 40 vehicles.”

One of the conditions said seven angled parking bays on Lagoon Drive would not form part of the approval, and the panel required the school to liaise with the City of Wanneroo to find an alternative because the City did not support angled bays.

At the June 4 meeting, the panel’s presiding member Karen Hyde said a construction management plan was needed to avoid having tradies vehicles parking on the school grounds and creating “traffic chaos”.

The report said the project did not need approval under the City’s District Planning Scheme 2 but did require approval under the Metropolitan Region Scheme and its value meant it had to be determined by DAP.

During public consultation, the City received two submissions, which were generally supportive of the development but raised concerns about potential health impacts of demolishing old buildings that might contain asbestos and increasing vehicle traffic during school drop-off.