Site being explored for permanent Docklands Primary School campus

The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is currently exploring opportunities for the future use of the site at the south-eastern corner of Little Docklands Drive and Footscray Rd opposite Docklands Primary School (DPS).

In March, DPS students moved into a temporary campus at The District Docklands retail and entertainment precinct after the new school, which only opened in 2021, exceeded its enrolment capacity.

Parents have continued lobbying the state government to secure a permanent campus for the primary school, as well as a new secondary school in Docklands, given the lack of options for the increasing number of local students.

As reported by Docklands News in February this year, there have been growing calls from the community for the government to purchase the Costco site for a secondary school, after the supermarket giant confirmed that it was vacating its premises by the end of 2024.

DPS experienced rapid enrolment growth in its first two years of operation, forcing the Department of Education to establish a temporary campus for its Grade 5 and 6 students at level one in The District, situated 200 metres from the school’s existing site.

A state government spokesperson told Docklands News in March that the site at The District had been leased for an initial term of five years, with a further five-year option exercisable by the Minister for Education should it be required.

But DPS parents have ramped up calls for Development Victoria (DV) to hand over the site opposite the school to the VSBA, which DV has nominated for “civic use”.

Developer Ashe Morgan holds the development rights to the site, which is bordered by Little Docklands Drive, Footscray Rd, St Mangos Lane North, and Waterfront Way, with land parcels to be developed as a mixture of residential and commercial uses.   

Ashe Morgan recently received planning approval for the nation’s biggest build-to-rent project, with more than 900 units to be constructed across two towers surrounding an extended St Mangos Lane.

But DV, which currently owns the land at 24 Little Docklands Drive, has nominated the corner site known as “Building 4” opposite DPS for “civic use” as part of the approved development plan for the precinct.

DV told Docklands News in July that both the City of Melbourne and the VSBA were currently exploring opportunities for the future use of the site but couldn’t confirm whether any commitments had been made.

DPS parent Mary Masters said the school community wanted transparency from the government, and reassurance that the empty site would be “put to good use” for a permanent campus “so that we can move out of The District”.

“We’re requesting a formal handover of the ‘civic building’ site to VSBA. Or, failing that, a commitment from DV that this site can be used for DPS as well as for ‘civic use’,” Ms Masters said.

“We’re advocating to the VSBA to seek funding in the next budget for a new permanent school campus on this site. DPS’s initial five-year lease at The District runs until 2027, so we want this new building delivered by then, or sooner!”

Parents are calling on DV to immediately complete a feasibility study as to how to best activate the site for DPS and the local community during the year prior to the start of Ashe Morgan’s development, noting that temporary classrooms “would be a poor outcome”.

A VSBA spokesperson told Docklands News that it was “continuing to explore options for a permanent campus of Docklands Primary School.”

The 2024–25 State Budget allocated $1 million to progress planning for primary and secondary school provision in Melbourne’s inner north and west and for minor works at two schools.

This funding provides opportunities for new permanent infrastructure to support existing inner-city schools under enrolment pressure. The government has confirmed that school provision in Docklands will form part of this work. •

Caption: (Bottom right - transparently highlighted) “building 4” which has been mooted as “civic space” by Development Victoria opposite Docklands Primary School.