It's On Again.... School 2.0 2025!The gift that keeps on giving....
Good afternoon everyone,
Last Monday afternoon, many of us who checked their letterboxes would have seen a glossy, coloured 2 page flyer headed 'Community Engagement' detailing plans for an independent school at North Lakes! For those of us not lucky enough to receive one, it's well worth a read - click here. Now, you don't even have to have been following this saga since 2018 to realise 'we've been here before'. Because it was only as recently as 2021 that something very similar, on pretty much the same part of the former golf course, was proposed and rejected by the State Government.
It's early days yet and we're still getting our heads around it, but this does look like pretty much the same process as before - so you've got to wonder what's changed? Main entrance is still just off Endeavour Boulevard just behind the Retirement Village - traffic and on-street parking will be a disaster for North Lakes. There's now a 'designated drop-off zone' accessed from Diamond Jubilee Way - an 80km/hr state controlled road! We're told 'only 15 percent' of the land will be for buildings, while 66 percent will be playing fields and open space. But the whole area was (and still is) designated 'recreational open space' and is an environmental corridor under the original Master Plan for North Lakes? There's plenty more to catch your attention we're sure.
The process for lodging and determining this one bypasses Moreton Bay City Council and is via the Queensland Government Ministerial Infrastructure Designations. Under these, the Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning et al (Jarrod Bleijie MP), has sole decision making power including to direct Moreton Bay City Council to amend their planning schemes as needed.
There are also a limited number of community information sessions being held which you might want to look at, plus an interesting FAQ section. Here you will find answers to questions about koala habitat (apparently there is none), bike paths (formerly golf cart paths) and a justification for a school on this site (all of 4 lines)!
So, the purpose of this early note was just to let you know this is out there, that we're very concerned about it, to encourage you to explore the documents and have your say. We've come this far as a community - let's not give up yet!
Please let us know your thoughts at savenorthlakes@gmail.com.
