June 27, 2012
St John’s Lutheran School principal Helen Folker admits to being a little surprised by the reaction to an application by the school to purchase a strip of Adermann Park in Ivy Street, Kingaroy.
“We initially put in an expression of interest with (former mayor) David Carter years ago when we read that Council was interested in selling some of their parks, long before we began considering extending into Junior Secondary,” she said today.
South Burnett Regional Councillors are currently examining the proposal and have left the recommendation that they support the purchase “on the table” for a later meeting to decide.
“The councillors need to walk around the area and see what portion we propose to buy; that it does maintain Adermann Park in its entirety,” Mrs Folker said.
A scheduled inspection of the area today was postponed because of the rain, but should go ahead within a fortnight.
Adermann Park consists of two blocks of land:
- Lot 69 (94 Ivy St) which is 0.7109ha in size; and
- Lot 488 (96 Ivy St) which is 1.225ha.
Both blocks are owned by the State Government and leased to the South Burnett Regional Council.
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The school is hoping the councillors will support their application to purchase the smaller of the two blocks, Lot 69, which runs parallel to the school’s western boundary.
Mrs Folker said this strip was 40m wide. It contains lawns and trees but no park infrastructure. Adermann Park’s play area, barbecue and pathways are all located on the larger Lot 488.
She said St John’s meant no disrespect to Sir Charles Adermann, who had achieved much for Queensland, however an expansion into Lot 69 would be the best outcome for the school community.
Mrs Folker said she also believed Lot 69 was not part of the original reserve set aside in 1983 for Adermann Park.
The block the school is interested in buying was added in 1988 as part of the redevelopment of the former Wieden farm. This is about the same time as the St John’s Lutheran congregation purchased nearby land to establish a school.
“Our plan would enable Adermann Park to stay, with a walk through from Fairview Drive,” Mrs Folker said.
“(Lot 69) is a lot of maintenance for the Council. This would also alleviate some of their ongoing maintenance costs. There’s nothing in that area that takes away from Adermann Park. There are no facilities that are used on a regular basis except for the added space.”
St John’s would relocate their junior playground and up to two classrooms – depending on how the school grows – into the area if the project proceeds. Later a parking area which the public could use could also be built at the front of the block.
The school has applied to the Block Grant Authority for funding to build these classrooms, pending the outcome of an application to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board to extend the current school to include Years 7, 8 and 9.
This would free up space for St John’s to build a home economics block for the new junior secondary students within the current schoolgrounds.
Lutheran Education Queensland, the governing body of Lutheran schools, has already signed off on the proposal and St John’s is hopeful of learning the outcome of their application to the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board within a few months.
However Mrs Folker said the school would like to continue with the application to purchase the Adermann Park strip, even if its junior secondary extension is rejected by the Board.
“We are just trying to look to the future and be better able to cater for the educational needs of the community,” she said.
“We certainly can accommodate the new buildings on our current campus but the extra space would give us a better educational outcome, more space and more playing fields for the children in our community.
“I believe the best outcome for the school community would be to have the extra space; it would be the best option in terms of us forging ahead, to do the best with the resources we have.”
- The application to extend St John’s into a Junior Secondary school is a result of the former State Government’s decision to shift all Year 7 classes across Queensland into high school. Under these new arrangements, St John’s would have lost their current Year 7 students who would have had to re-locate to a high school a year earlier than in the past. If the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board approves the junior secondary extension, these students will be able to continue to do Year 7 at St John’s, and then also complete Years 8 and 9.
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