A grassroots campaign has been launched to stop plans for a housing development on the former Duval High School site in Armidale, with residents accusing the NSW Government of disregarding community concerns and ignoring the site’s long-term public value.
Around 50 residents gathered on September 27 to plan their next steps after Armidale Regional Council announced a partnership with Homes NSW to develop social, affordable and market housing on the former school land, as well as nearby Lot 17 on Grandview Crescent. The development could see more than 100 dwellings built as part of the state government’s Building Homes for NSW program.
But locals say the plan has been pushed forward without adequate consultation and risks losing valuable public land forever.
“We have decided to initiate a petition calling on Brendan Moylan, MP for Northern Tablelands, and Armidale Council to halt this development and protect our public land, thereby preserving the former school site for the future of Armidale,” a spokesperson for the group said.
The petition calls for the Duval High School site to be retained for future public education or other community purposes rather than housing development, and for transparent and meaningful consultation with the Armidale community before any decisions are made.
The petition is old school – paper and signatures rather than online – and the group aims to gather between 2,000 and 5,000 signatures and present it to Parliament. While 10,000 signatures are required to trigger a parliamentary debate – particularly as an offline petition – the group hopes the petition will still demonstrate strong opposition and prompt Mr Moylan to act on their behalf.
The group said they had approached Armidale Mayor Sam Coupland but “have not received much support” and are still waiting on a formal response from Mr Moylan.
Mr Moylan has confirmed to New England Times he is seeking further information from Armidale Regional Council and the Department of Education and has met with the Minister for Housing about the issue. The Northern Tablelands MP had previously been lobbying for the site to be released for recreational use, saying a number of community groups had been in contact with him about the possibilities of using the area.
A second, separate glitch in the plans has emerged with claims that Lot 17 Grandview Crescent, the additional land council has volunteered to the housing development proposal, cannot be used for this purpose. Those with longer memories than the current ARC leadership say that the land was donated for recreational use for former mayor of Armidale City Council, Claude Cainero, over 30 years ago, and cannot be used for housing.
Armidale Regional Council have confirmed that Lot 17 Grandview Crescent is zoned RE1 Public Recreation.
“The zoning and classification remain the same however if the project proceed Homes NSW will lead a rezoning and reclassification process,” an ARC spokesperson said.
The development is part of a wider government push to unlock surplus public land for housing. The NSW Government sent a press release today that led with the Duval High site as one identified as part of ongoing property audit to deliver more affordable housing.
Housing Minister Rose Jackson said the approach would ensure public land is “put to work for the community, not left sitting idle”.
“Every one of these sites has the potential to deliver hundreds of homes where they are needed most,” she said in today’s statement.
However, specific questions asked by New England Times have gone unanswered for more than a month, with various NSW Government bodies and ministers refusing to explain how this proposal came to be.
The questions the Minister’s office and Homes NSW have refused to answer are:
- Who proposed the Duval High site: Homes NSW or Armidale Regional Council?
- Did Homes NSW approve the Council media release and the language they used to characterise the project?
- Who in the NSW Government, as per the Council’s release, additional statements and Mayor’s comments “declared the site surplus to requirements” and usable for this purpose?
- Was any basic assessment of the site done as to whether it would be suitable for affordable and social housing before progressing the proposal?
- Does Homes NSW usually pursue housing developments on highly sought after premium property locations?
- Was Homes NSW aware of Council staff warning against reputational damage given the community’s emotional attachment to the school site, and the unresolved question of demerger of the highschool? Were Homes NSW given the same risk warning?
- Was any discussion given to the environmental impact of putting more housing in the area subjected to Armidale’s well documented air pollution issues, rather than outside the topography that creates the near permanent inversion layer?
- There is no shortage of land or developments in and around Armidale, with four growth corridors and multiple development sites in various stages (including 82 vacant blocks available today, and approximately 400 in the pipeline, housing growth consistently above 4%) – and that’s just Armidale, not any of the surrounding rural localities – the only real constraint on housing growth here is builders. Why is Homes NSW wasting time and resources in Armidale at all?
For now, the community group is mobilising support by distributing petition forms through local businesses and letterbox drops. Businesses and others wanting to help can contact them via armidalecommunityduval@gmail.com for more information.
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