Nor'West News: February 12, 2019

NOR’WEST NEWS Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Tuesday February 12 2019 3
News
$11m Belfast campus gets go ahead
• By Jess Gibson
BELFAST SCHOOL’S new
$11 million senior campus off
Johns Rd has been given the
green light and is expected to be
finished in 2021.
The new campus is
part of the Ministry of
Education’s Christchurch
Schools Rebuild programme. It
will be built within 1km of the
current school site
on Main North Rd,
which is also set
to get a $4 million
upgrade.
The population of
Belfast is expected
Sue Elley
to double from
7500 to 15,000
by 2041, which
principal Sue Elley said was the
“catalyst” for the upgrade. “Each
year our role has been increasing
and it’s expected to keep
growing,” said Mrs Elley.
She said the decision followed
a “very positive” consultation
process last year to decide
whether the preferred option
was a two-campus model for the
existing school or an entirely
new school.
“As a community, Belfast has
a strong identity and we think
that having a school on two
sites is the best option for our
community rather than having
CAMPUS: Belfast School’s growing roll means its Main North Rd site is no longer big
enough so an additional campus will be built off Johns Rd.
two schools that would be
competing against each other,”
said Mrs Elley.
The new senior campus for
year 5-8 pupils will be built on a
new site north of Johns Rd. The
Main North Rd site will become
the junior campus for year 1-4
pupils.
“To future-proof both sites,
we anticipate that each campus
will be master-planned so that
they could accommodate up to
600 students in the long-term,”
said a Ministry of Education
spokesperson.
Mrs Elley is excited about the
new development and said she
will be working closely with the
ministry, school staff and the
board of trustees to ensure the
build runs smoothly.
“Our intention is that we will
be very strongly remaining as
one school, but we will have the
advantage of having different
types of resources that the
children can use at either site.”
An education brief discussing
the development will be
produced and distributed to the
public before the planning and
design stage begins.
Local
News
Now
In Brief
Fire rages, homes at risk
JELLIE PARK UPGRADES
Phase two of the Jellie Park
Recreation and Sports Centre
upgrades is now under way.
This will include work on the
change rooms, toilets, reception
foyer and café and it is expected
that these will be completed in
April 2019. Phase one, which
included reopening the outdoor
pools and the hydroslide was
completed in December.
COMMUNITY HUB
The old Plunket Rooms
at Redwood Library will
reopen as a community
hub on February 27. The
building will provide a base
for community engagement,
overseen by Neighbourhood
links. Neighbourhood Links
was initiated by agencies in the
north-west of Christchurch and
the Papanui-Innes Community
Governance team, along with
the community of Northcote
and Redwood, and Northcote
School.
NORTHERN CORRIDOR
Residents affected by the
Northern Corridor will know
on Thursday if they will have a
say on the Downstream Effects
Mitigation Plan. The city council
will hold a meeting on Thursday
to decide whether they will seek
public opinion on February 25.
Move into
Bupa
Parklands
Retirement
Village this
Summer
Open Day
Sunday 17 February, 1pm–3pm
Apartments
available
from
$334,000
Call Lynda on (03) 669 4594 or 027 702 9619
429 Papanui Road, Papanui
www.bupa.co.nz/parkland