New Eileen O'Connor School

Our community can benefit from a school like this. There is high demand for a special need school

I strongly support the proposal to build the Eileen O’Connor school in Tuggerah. As a special education teacher myself, I recognise the enormous value that a dedicated school for children with special needs in our local area offers. This initiative represents a significant and much-needed step forward in ensuring every child has access to a safe, inclusive, and empowering learning environment close to home.

Currently, many families in our community are required to travel to Sydney or Newcastle to access specialised educational facilities, placing strain on children and parents alike. The Eileen O’Connor school would not only remove this barrier but also allow students to remain connected to their community, friends, and familiar support networks.

The benefits of this project extend beyond the classroom. It will:

Provide tailored programs and resources to meet a wide range of learning and developmental needs.

Offer professional development and employment opportunities for specialist teachers and support staff.

Serve as a hub for community engagement, creating partnerships with local health and therapy providers.

Strengthen the values of inclusion, equity, and diversity in our region.

As a community, we have an opportunity to invest in a facility that will change lives—not just for students, but for families and the wider public. This school will embody our collective commitment to ensuring every child has the chance to thrive and reach their full potential.

I urge the council to approve and actively support the development of this important project.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Heidi Moon

The proponent has not followed proper and effective stakeholder engagement and consultation as required by the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs). I am a direct neighbour of the Project, located at unit 1-10 Keefers Glen, just 20 m from the boundary of the school and I have not been engaged at all nor been made aware of the Project until now.

I have attached my detailed letter outlining my concerns and considerations.

Kind Regards,

Gabriel Harding-Davis

The main address listed on the proposal is Gavenlock Drive; however, the actual school diagrams show the entry and exit gates on Keefers Glen. This is a residential school with little extra capacity for the demands of school traffic. The school entry would be better suited to Gavenlock Drive near the current entry for St Peters.

I’m writing to express my strong support for the proposed development of the Eileen O’Connor Catholic School in Mardi—a much-needed specialist school for children with additional needs.

At present, families across the Central Coast have very few options when it comes to finding appropriate education for children requiring extra support. This school would provide a dedicated, supportive environment where students with special needs can truly thrive. It would offer families more choice and greater peace of mind, knowing their children can learn and grow in a setting that understands and meets their needs.

This development would also bring meaningful benefits to our local area—most notably, the creation of new jobs across teaching, support, and administration. It would help strengthen Mardi both socially and economically, while also promoting inclusion and community spirit.

Having a school like this in our suburb would be a privilege. I believe it would make a lasting, positive impact on many lives, and I fully support the proposal.

Sincerely,
Karen Benham

I am writing to express my strong support for the proposed development of the new Eileen O’Connor Catholic School in Mardi, a specialised educational facility dedicated to supporting children with additional needs.

As a local Mardi resident, I believe this school would be a truly valuable addition to our community. The Central Coast currently has limited options for families seeking specialised educational environments for their children with special needs. The establishment of this school would provide families with a much-needed alternative, one that is inclusive, tailored, and compassionate in its approach to learning and development.

The benefits of this development extend beyond education. The school would bring increased employment opportunities to our local area—ranging from teaching and support staff to administration and maintenance roles—stimulating the local economy and strengthening our community.

Furthermore, having such a purpose-built school in our suburb sends a strong message about our values: that we are a community that embraces diversity, supports every child’s right to a quality education, and invests in inclusive infrastructure.

It would be an honour to have the Eileen O’Connor Catholic School built in Mardi. I wholeheartedly support this development proposal and encourage Council to approve and facilitate the progression of this much-needed educational facility.

Yours sincerely,
Sarah Benham

While I fully support the school being built I do not support the entry and exit of the school in Keefers Glen Road. This laneway is unsuitable for other than residents access and residents parking which is already inadequate for the owners/renters. The plan admits they don't have enough on site parking for staff & visitors. The entry and exit will cause major traffic congestion accessing the little streets of Keefers Glen, Deloraine, Brickendon, Wagners these cannot support this huge traffic and special needs buses. . The traffic will bank up onto Woodbury Park Drive.
Council has said the entrance/exit should be via Gavenlock which already exists and which would not affect any residents. The school has the capacity to build the entrance on their land and should do so.
If the school is built, the entry and exit must be via 84 Gavenlock Rd, Mardi (which is the address listed on the the proposal but when you read it the school is planned to be built facing Keefers Glen).
The developer could easily create a new & needed entrance driveway off Gavenlock Road.
The special needs children should be accessing the same entry as the other children it smacks of discrimination to create a different entry/exit. There are also concerns regarding the use of the multipurpose hall on after hours & on weekends.
On this site there is a fairly large dam, which is just proposed to fill in, our garden always is flooded whenever it rains now, if it is filled in where will all the water go?

I am writing to formally object to the proposed design of the New Eileen O’Connor Catholic School, which indicates that the main vehicle access will be via Keefers Glen.

While I strongly support the establishment of a purpose-built, inclusive educational facility, I have serious concerns about the safety, traffic management, and overall suitability of using a narrow residential back street as the primary entry point.

Key concerns include:

Traffic Congestion & Safety Risks:

A school of this size (up to 200 students) will generate significant vehicle movements during peak times.

The narrow width and residential nature of Keefers Glen is incompatible with high-volume traffic, creating hazards for students, parents, and residents.

Emergency Access Issues:

Back streets may restrict access for emergency vehicles, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up periods.

Impact on Local Residents:

Increased traffic noise, pollution, and reduced parking availability will negatively impact the quality of life for those living in the area.

Accessibility for All Road Users:

The school’s mission includes serving students with disabilities. The proposed access route may not adequately support vehicles requiring more space for ramps, lifts, and specialised transport.

I urge the project planners to reconsider the proposed access arrangements and instead provide a safe, direct, and appropriately designed entry from Gavenloack rd with a purpose-built access route that reflects the scale and needs of this important community facility.

I request that my objection be recorded and considered in the assessment process. Please keep me informed of any opportunities for public consultation or updates to the traffic management plan.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,
Brandon Holton

Hi

We are owner/occupiers in Mardi. We live in a neighbouring street that would be affected by the proposed entrance to this new school. We do not oppose the actual school itself being built, in fact we think it's a great idea. However we oppose the proposed entrance and exit as it should be via Gavenlock Road as per the listed address on the application.

The proposed laneway of Keefers Glen is inappropriate, we note that council has already rejected it for the following reasons.
* The school will generate too much traffic for the size of the laneway.
* Residents will be severely affected by the extra traffic and parking generated by the overflow of staff. They have noted 61 parking spots for 71 teachers and other any auxiliary staff they require.
* Keefers Glen was not constructed to facilitate the higher levels of traffic. It is a small laneway.
* The western boundary of the site is fully fenced, to prevent parents and students accessing the existing school in Keefers Glen. The school's own governing body, CSBB recently undertook a safety audit and deemed Keefers Glen unsafe for student use and daily student dropoff/pickup. As of term 3 the boundary gate has been locked for the safety of students. An email was sent to parents of the school regarding this change.
* The existing intersections at either end of Keefers Glen will not support the sweeping path of turning buses
* We believe all access to the new school should be provided by the current address on Gavenlock Road. Renovations can be provided to upgrade this entrance, as there is plenty of room on the current grounds.

We note that out of school usage of the Multi Purpose Centre (after school and on weekends) will impact our small community with increased traffic and noise at all times.
Our small community is made up of elderly residents and young families that will be severely disrupted and made unsafe by the addition of extra traffic in laneways that are not designed for this purpose.

We support the special needs school but not the entrance /exit.

Thank you
John & Melissa Weatherall

I object to the development in particular it’s entry/exit being on Keegers Glen. I would support the project if entry would be utilised via 84 Gavenlock Rd as per the submission. Keefers Glen and surrounding streets including Woodbury Park Dr, Deloraine Glen, Brickendon Ave, Wagners Pl are not sustainable for the reported amount of vehicles that would be utilising the roads should the school implement an entry way on Keefers Glen. Furthermore, Keefers Glen is a very tiny street where traffic is already a nightmare at the best of times. The reported traffic via the Central Coast Council as a result of this submission being approved would have onerous effect on us local residents including traffic delays (especially during peak times) and loss of property value.

We need more special education schools on the Central Coast.

I object this project and provide a letter

I object to the school land being subdivided and hence having the access onto Keefers Glen. Keefers Glenn is in a small strata village, designed for Cobbs village residents and visitors only. It was never assumed a subdivision and new special needs school would be built. It is a narrow, misshapen lane with 2 dog legs where only one vehicle can safely navigate in the lane itself and the passing vehicle must stop to give way. It has two more sharp dog legs onto Deloraine and Wagners. The residents struggle with this lane already. Particularly as school teachers and students park on the narrow nature strip and the new school will be at least 20 car parks short.
The area was not designed for such a large school , particularly with the transports needs of disabled students. No child is allowed walk to school and the majority live in other suburbs to the south. The garbage trucks have to often do 3 point turns on our roads.
The application led people to believe that the school was being built on 84 Gavenlock Rd Tuggerah, which comes off an industrial area and has a purpose built entry and road into the main school (St Peters) . There is no reason the school couldn’t be built on the same corner of land, but have its entrance at 84 Gavenlock Road. There is ample room for the existing internal road to continue to where the proposed car park is and the new school building could back onto Keefers instead of face it.
I believe the diocese wish to remove any burden of the new school from their students, parents and staff and place it all on Cobbs strata village for two reasons. One, so the new school has minimum impact on their environment and their students dont have to see severely disabled/high needs students disembarked from buses. This could be detrimental to the prestige of the college and may deter enrolments. The other most obvious reason is to save money. They are only laying a small section of bitumen and a token 30m? footpath that leads to no where. The rest of the lane is unfit for purpose yet they have not included any upgrades. To say the reason the entrance is on keefers is due to the students having pride in their own entrance is farcical. Im sure they’d have more pride and belonging, going through the entrance on Gavenlock with every other student, instead of being hidden away in a corner.
The road has an island where it joins Brickendon which trucks and buses would have to drive over to make the turn.
The burden, daily disruption and impact on the quality of life and the subsequent devaluation of homes in Cobbs village will be significant. Particularly in Keefers and Brickendon where the homes adjoining the new school sit much lower and will have people in a 3 storey building looking into their back yards and those below the bus pickup/drop off will have the passengers having full view of their yards. The filling in of the dam is very concerning as there’s already significant run off from the site.
The majority of residents appear to accept the school being built, however they don’t want the diocese to shift the burden to the community and a totally unsuitable road system, when it is perfectly feasible for the new school to have access off Gavenlock road

I fully support the development of the New Eileen O'Connor School, however I have serious and urgent concerns regarding the proposed main access point via Keefers Glen and its surrounding streets (Brickendon, Wagner, Hawthorne, and Richmond).

These are tiny suburban streets that are already in poor condition, plagued by potholes and, critically, lack footpaths. This raises immediate and profound safety concerns, particularly for children walking to and from school, given the anticipated surge in traffic.

The current infrastructure simply cannot cope. These roads already require significant repair, and the estimated quadrupling of traffic once the school opens will undoubtedly lead to their rapid deterioration. Furthermore, the heavy construction vehicles required for the school's development will inflict substantial damage, weakening and destroying these roads even before the school welcomes its first students.

For the safety of our community, especially our young children, and to protect the existing infrastructure, I urge you to rethink the main access point. I strongly advocate for the utilization of Gavenlock Road as the primary access point, which is far better equipped to handle the increased traffic volume.

As a resident of Mardi I object to the use of a minor narrow suburban street to be the main access point of the proposed school. The main access point must be from GavenLock Rd (or branch off existing Gavenlock Rd access into St Peters school).
Keefers Glen and it's feed-in roads off Woodbury Park Drive are not suitable for high traffic or large traffic (such as buses).
The local area is already suffering from significant congestion and inappropriate parking at school drop-off/pick-up times due to the pedestrian access into St Peters. The overtaxed local infrastructure cannot support a main entrance or additional traffic flows, particularly buses, as it is already at capacity. Please enforce Council recommendations that all vehicular access is via Gavenlock Rd.

The project addrsss is 84 Gavenlock Road Tuggerah but the school proposal is to access via Keefers Glen Cobbs Village which was beyond reasonable. Cobbs village and surrounding streets are designed for a small community of 160 residents, and Keefers Glen is a very quiet and narrow lane that cannot cope with the traffic & parking needs according to the proposal, also it will lead to significant impacts to local residents’ quality of life due to pollution from school buses, traffic from staffs and noise pollution. the school buildings are designed too close to the surrounding residential properties without proper consideration the impacts to the surrounding residents. I object to this project.

I am writing to formally object to the proposed development of the Eileen O’Connor School behind my property on Brickendon Avenue, Mardi. While I support education, I believe this particular site is entirely unsuitable for a school of this scale and function, for the reasons outlined below.

1. Inadequate Infrastructure and Road Access:
*The proposed school site sits within a small residential community designed for a maximum of 160 homes.
*Streets such as Keefers Glen and Brickendon Avenue are narrow and already experience high congestion during peak hours. *Adding school-related traffic will severely compromise road safety, especially for children and pedestrians.
* The school is proposing only 61 on-site parking spaces, yet requires 71 teacher spaces alone, not including:
- Additional staff
- Visitors
- Parents for drop-off/pick-up
- School buses and delivery vehicles
This shortfall will result in significant overflow parking on already crowded residential streets.

2. Existing and Worsening Parking Issues:
*Many of the homes in this area are duplexes, meaning double the number of residents and vehicles per block.
*On-street parking is already scarce. The development will add unsustainable pressure to an area that cannot accommodate more cars.
*Overflow parking from the school will likely result in:
- Illegal parking on verges and driveways
- Reduced access for emergency vehicles
- Constant inconvenience for residents

3. Noise Pollution:
*The existing school of St Peter's (which is further away from my home) already generates significant daily noise:
- Loud outdoor play sessions (three times per day)
- Overhead PA announcements throughout the day
*Therefore the proposed Eileen O’Connor School will be much closer, amplifying this impact.
*This would directly reduce my ability to enjoy my home peacefully and affect quality of life, especially for those who work from home (as I do) or have young children.

4. Severe Privacy Loss:
*Even with the current school (St Peter's) at a greater distance away than the proposed school, students can already see directly into my backyard and master bedroom.
*With the new school positioned closer, this issue will become far more intrusive, leaving mey with no privacy in our own home or yard.
*This is unacceptable in a residential zone and constitutes a major breach of amenity.

5. Devaluation of Property:
* The combination of increased traffic, lack of privacy, constant noise, and the industrial-scale use of a residential site will substantially devalue my property.
*Like many in the area, I invested in a quiet, low-density suburb. This proposal undermines that investment and will have lasting financial impacts on myself and local families.

6. Inappropriate Use of Land:
* The development of the Eileen O’Connor School in this location represents an incompatible use of land. It introduces institutional-scale activity to an area with infrastructure designed only for low-density housing.
* The impact will be felt by all residents of Mardi, not just immediate neighbours.

I respectfully urge Council to reject this development application for the Eileen O’Connor School based on:
1. Inadequate traffic and infrastructure capacity
2. Impact on residential safety, parking, and access
3. Loss of privacy and liveability
4. Devaluation of neighbouring properties
5. Incompatibility with the character of the local community

Thank you for considering this submission.
Yours sincerely,
Sharn Lenton

I live adjacent to Keefers Glen and have concerns regarding the new school.

1It seems the address on the proposal is misleading. It is listed as Gavenlock Rd, but the plans show access ONLY via Keefers Glen.
Keefers Glen is a very small street backing onto the existing school, the local streets (Keefers, Brickendon, Wagners and Deloraine) simply do NOT have the capacity to accommodate both the construction and operation of a school. Assuming busses would be taking students to school, these streets also do not have the capacity to accommodate vehicles of this size regularly.

The school carpark in the plan does not have the capacity to support the expected amount of staff, so where will they all park?

I object to the entrance being via Keefers Glen, access to this new school should be via the existing entrance via Gavenlock rd

As a local resident I oppose the decision to access the school from residential streets. This decision has been made by the developer despite council recommending otherwise. Brickendon Street onto Woodbury Park Drive regularly has near misses due to the the t-section. Roads are narrow and would not accommodate buses. As a local who has friends in Brickendon, I know that even the smaller club courtesy buses and limousines have had difficulty negotiating those streets. Residents should be considered first in a residential area
Regards
Dellean

I object to the proposal to the access through Keefers Glen and surrounding streets for the construction and student access of the new school (Eileen O'connor school). The streets are small and cannot accommodate heavy flow of traffic thus having a negative impact on our local area.
While we support the build of new school, we strongly suggest all access points should be through Gavenlock Road.