St Philip's Christian College is investigating the possibility of purchasing land at Aberglasslyn for a new Kindergarten to Year 12 school catering for 1200 students.
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The school is interested in a Maitland City Council-owned site in Weblands Street and another in nearby Liddell Avenue.
Council had initially agreed to sell Lot 1490 Weblands Street and Lot 14 Liddell Avenue to the Catholic School Diocese of Maitland and Newcastle, however the diocese withdrew its offer for the site.
Fairfax Media reported in August last year council documents revealed the sale of Weblands Street would go ahead for just over $4million while the Liddell Avenue site would exchange for almost $2.5million.
A confidential report at Tuesday night's council meeting asked councillors to consider a new request from St Philip’s to purchase the site.
Council will now grant St Philip’s Christian College a due diligence period of eight weeks to investigate securing the site for a school and "other land considerations".
St Philip’s Christian Education Foundation Executive Principal Graeme Irwin said if the due diligence period was favourable and a school on the site was appropriate and viable, a development application would be submitted to council.
“We would be continuing with the St Philip’s vision of seeking to establish a low-fee independent Christian school with about 1200 students,” Mr Irwin said.
“Current plans indicate that the school would be open for enrolments in 2020 and the classes available would be from Kindergarten to early secondary years.
The school would then continue to grow towards Year 12 students presenting for the HSC exams,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Ken Wethered said there was a growing need for another school in the area.
"It's obvious the population in this area of the city is growing and there is a need for a Christian school in the west," Cr Wethered said.
"I'm interested to see what St Phillip's comes back with in terms of plans.”
Cr Wethered said the school would have wonderful economic benefits for the city's west both during and after construction.
"The biggest problem however is that we are dealing with an old sanitary site, which has some contamination, so the control and removal of that contaminated soil will be a big ask," Cr Wethered said.