Construction of Mango Hill State High School gets Underway
0A new state secondary school will be delivered by the Department of Education, on a 14.1 hectare site at Mango Hill, opening to Year 7 students in Term 1, 2020.
Master planned to accommodate up to 1700 students across Years 7 to 12, the Mango Hill State Secondary School site is currently being excavated with building construction due to commence shortly.
The North Lakes and Mango Hill area is one of the fastest growing areas in Queensland with population growth averaging more than 2,000 per annum since 2006. Rapid population growth is forecast to continue over the medium to longer term with the local population expected to exceed 45,000 by 2036. Within this population, the proportion of school aged and pre-school aged exceeds the state average placing an additional burden on local schools.
The Department has completed schematic design and a detailed business case for this new school in conjunction with Building Queensland. The contract for the design of the new school was awarded to FK Gardner & Sons (FKG) in March 2019. Preparation works, including demolition works and the installation of fencing, were undertaken following acquisition of the site late in 2018.
The site acquisition caused a controversy within the Community and many were sad to see their beloved Mango Hill Goat Farm close its’ doors to the many public open days, usually held for the purpose of raising funds to assist other community members.
The site is bound by Capestone Residential Estate to the north, which was another issue of contention to the residents of the Estate.
Kinsellas Road East is a Council sub-arterial road, and has been identified for future upgrades to become a ‘future Council local collector’ (also known as the North-South Urban Arterial (NSUA)). Richard Road is a partially formed road at a rural standard and is marked as a future Council local collector road also.
It has been determined that there are some less than ideal areas of the site, specifically the low lying north-eastern corner, which will be used as the sports oval, as it is unable to accommodate any school related building infrastructure and dedication of land to the future North-South Urban Arterial road along Kinsellas Road East and Richard Road frontages of the site. Furthermore, ensuring school infrastructure is outside the radius of the telecommunications tower east of the site is a health consideration.
The concentration of the school campus is to be built on the highest and widest part of the site. The proposed buildings within the school grounds will comprise of a mix of heights between one and three storeys. The design also creates separate Junior and Senior learning areas that will consolidate cohort years within a defined area.
The catchment zone is still to be determined, however it appears as though it will split the existing North Lakes State College catchment area, and will extend generally along Kedron Brook to the north, west towards Anzac Avenue and south towards Freshwater Creek / Hays Inlet. The final catchment boundary will be determined through further consultation between the Department of Education and local school principals closer to the school opening date.
Enrolments will open following the appointment of a foundation school principal in mid-2019.
Parents and carers interested in enrolling their children at this new school are encouraged to sign up for updates via the project website: https://yoursay.buildingfutureschools.advancingeducation.qld.gov.au/new-schools
