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School site plans up in the air

Sophie GabrielleWestern Suburbs Weekly

Mr Hill said last week's announcement that the former Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital would be placed on the State Heritage Register was unlikely to affect the school's chances of expanding to the site on Lemnos Street.

The site had been flagged by the school as a possible location to build a multi-purpose auditorium.

"There was certainly some feeling within the community that given our burgeoning size, we might be able to expand to the site," Mr Hill said.

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�The College remains hopeful that in the near future the Government will make an announcement on a new facility at the college and a new school in the western suburbs.

"We do also have the capacity to build on our existing site."

LandCorp general manager (Metropolitan) Luke Willcock said the Education Department and Shenton College were consulted on the redevelopment of Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital, which is now in the formal statutory planning phase. "At this stage no land has been specifically set aside for Shenton College," he said.

�However, the master plan is flexible in its design to ensure such requests from the Department of Education could be considered.

"The provision of land for a variety of housing choices and amenity in close proximity to public transport is a main consideration to meet the future population growth of the broader WA community."

Heritage Minister Albert Jacob said the hospital was the State's first paraplegic and spinal injury hospital, in use from the 1950s until its closure last year.

He said he did not expect development on the site to be restricted as a result of the heritage listing.

Possible developments could include a Shenton College building, a residential development or even a boutique hotel.

The hospital was set up in 1894 as a makeshift tent hospital for the treatment of infectious diseases, such as smallpox, which were rampant in WA in the 1880s and �90s.

Mr Jacob said a portion of the 15ha site would be retained to recognise its significance, while enabling the appropriate redevelopment of the site.

Nedlands Mayor Max Hipkins said he was supportive of Shenton College expanding to the site but said LandCorp's prime concern was to develop residential lots.