The reserve land adjacent to the original Sir Charles Adermann Park has been offered for sale to St John’s Lutheran School, which is located on the eastern boundary of the area

April 2, 2013

The State Government has approved an application by St John’s Lutheran School in Kingaroy to buy a portion of Adermann Park but no price for the sale has yet been released.

The school, which plans to use the land to allow an expansion of its facilities, is now awaiting a formal “letter of offer” from the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) which will spell out the terms and conditions of the sale.

The proposal by St John’s to purchase a portion of the park, which is located adjacent to the school in Ivy Street, created controversy last year with petitions both for and against the proposal being raised.

Rumours were circulating in Kingaroy last week that the sale had been approved, but the DNRM would only confirm today that St John’s Lutheran Church – the owners of the school – had been notified that their application had been successful.

A DNRM spokesman said the South Burnett Regional Council, the appointed trustees of the land, had told them the smaller parcel of land next to the school was no longer required for park and recreation purposes.

“As such, DNRM has made a decision that this land could be allocated to St John’s Lutheran Church, Kingaroy … to enable the school to provide better educational outcomes by reconfiguring its current operations. DNRM will soon make a sale offer to the church to purchase the land,” the spokesman said.

A council spokesman told southburnett.com.au this evening that the DNRM had approached the SBRC in February asking if it had any future plans for the area.

A letter was sent back stating that Council had no plans for future development of that part of the land.

“We would not object to the disposal because that part (of the park) was surplus to Council’s needs,” the spokesman said.

He said Council’s focus was on development of Apex and Rotary parks.

The spokesman said Council was not a major party to the transaction and had only been emailed last week by the DNRM as a courtesy.

“Technically the applicant was St John’s School and the owner is the State Government,” he said.

“But Council’s view always was that we were happy for St John’s to have the land.”

(Attempts by southburnett.com.au to contact St John’s Lutheran School for comment have been unsuccessful)

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How the park sale unfolded:

  • St John’s principal Helen Folker sees a report in 2009 that suggests the SBRC may be interested in selling some of its parkland; an initial discussion re Adermann Park is had with then-Mayor Cr David Carter; the school learns Adermann Park belongs to the State Government, not the SBRC
  • With the State Government’s decision in 2012 to shift Year 7 classes into high school, St John’s sees a need to expand; the school contacts the South Burnett Regional Council seeking endorsement of a proposal for it to approach the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM) to purchase Lot 69 (about 36 per cent of the park area)
  • Council provides a letter of support in July 2012
  • After public uproar, the DNRM asks the SBRC to gather more information about the proposal
  • Petitions for and against the sale are forwarded to the DNRM by Council
  • In February this year, the DNRM asks Council if it has future uses planned for the area under consideration; Council replies that it planned no future development of the area and it would not object to the disposal of the land
  • The DNRM sends an email to St John’s last week advising them that their application has been successful and that a letter of offer will be sent to the school shortly which will contain conditions of sale
  • St John’s will now decide after receiving the letter of offer whether to go ahead with the purchase

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Adermann Park consists of two lots:

  • Lot 69 (94 Ivy St) which is 0.7109ha in size; and
  • Lot 488 (96 Ivy St) which is 1.225ha.

Lot 488 is the original “Sir Charles Adermann Park” dedicated to the memory of a former Chairman of Kingaroy Shire Council; Lot 69 was accepted by the SBRC and added as a developer’s contribution when a new housing estate was built in the area.

All park infrastructure is located on Lot 488 which will remain “as is”.

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