KING’S Christian College is planning to establish an education campus at Walloon to ultimately cater to almost 2,200 students from Prep to Year 12.
In hundreds of pages of documents uploaded to the Ipswich City Council development application portal, King’s Christian Education Ltd, outlined plans to develop a site beside the Karrabin Rosewood Road over the next 20 years to facilitate the staged construction of the school buildings and facilities plus a church, child care centre and community centre.
But before any development begins, the developer needs to gain Preliminary Approval to vary the Planning Scheme to rezone the land from Future Urban to Community Use.
In addition, King’s Christian Education Ltd, are hoping to gain development permits to consolidate the five parcels of land on its 10.8ha landholding at 622 – 644 Karrabin Rosewood Road, Walloon, into two parcels as well as get the go ahead to realign the existing stormwater drainage and change old easements and establish new ones.
The ‘Walloon Campus’, according to the developer, will ultimately accommodate a student population of approximately 2,192 students and 230 staff, in addition to staff and visitors associated with other community uses such as the church, which is expected to draw a regular attendance of 300 people.
“The King’s Christian College buildings are proposed to be a maximum of three storeys and will be of high architectural merit, noting that Burling Brown and Kings Christian Education Pty Ltd have developed a signature architectural style for King’s campuses over the past 15 years,” it was noted by the developer’s town planners.
The college already has two campuses on the Gold Coast and one in Logan City.
As part of the Walloon development application, Kings Christian Education Ltd have proposed road infrastructure improvements including:
• A roundabout to access the site off the Karrabin Rosewood Road;
• Constructing four lanes of the Karrabin Rosewood Road for a total distance of 160 metres;
• Constructing a 600 metre shared path between the site and Walloon State School; and
• A pedestrian refuge in Karrabin Rosewood Road, providing safe access to and from the Dawn Walloon residential estate.
In regard to road and rail noise impinging on the site, the developer notes that the building facades can overcome any issues through the proper selection of building materials.
The impact of noise from the site, the developer proposes, will be mitigated through the construction of a two-metre-high, acoustic barrier on the property’s western boundary.
The 2.6 hectares of koala habitat identified property … “will represent an isolated and unviable habitat following construction of the Western Ipswich Bypass”.
“Moreover, the [ecological assessment] identifies that a $269,966 environmental offset will be applicable, that can be invested by the State Government in the enhancement of koala habitat in the Priority Koala Area, being the pre-eminent area for the future sustainability of koala populations.”
King’s Christian Education Ltd has anticipated that as the application centres on the development of an education facility, Council’s lodgement fees will be reduced by 50 percent to $27,600.
The proposal is currently under review by Council’s town planners.
