Cromwell College working on master plan to cope with growth

CROMWELL’S rapid growth has created an ‘‘urgent’’ need for a master plan for Cromwell College, which is expecting a 20% increase in roll in the next four years, principal Mason Stretch says.

The school was working with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to develop a master plan, which would hopefully allow a complete rebuild of Cromwell College, Mr Stretch said.

There was no idea of cost yet, beyond it ‘‘obviously costing millions’’, and no timeframe, but Mr Stretch said he hoped there would be more information from the ministry within the next month.

‘‘We hope it is soon, as we have some urgency given our roll growth and age of our relocatable buildings.

‘‘Our current roll of 455 is expected to increase by almost 100 pupils in the next four years, so a property plan through MOE is a matter of urgency for our board.’’

Mr Stretch said ministry representatives had toured Cromwell College ‘‘and acknowledge the challenge we are facing with roll growth and our ageing relocatable buildings’’.

The school, which opened in 1978, was comprised of relocatable prefabricated buildings that were ‘‘never meant to be here for 50 years’’, Mr Stretch said.

The school’s materials and food technology and performing arts facilities, in particular, required significant upgrading, he said.

Mr Stretch said the school had done significant consultation with Cromwell families, and was ‘‘excited by the possibility of a redevelopment of our school, rather than adding more classrooms through roll growth build’’.

Cromwell College’s roll had been growing at about 2530 pupils a year for the past few years and a ‘‘range of options’’ was being considered to cope with growth in the interim, including repurposing some rooms, Mr Stretch said.

Ministry deputy secretary sector enablement and support Katrina Casey confirmed Cromwell ‘‘continues to be an area of growth’’, including at its two primary schools.

Last year, the ministry allocated funding for four extra classrooms at Cromwell Primary School and two at Goldfields Primary School, and construction of those classrooms was expected to begin soon, she said.

She said the ministry was developing ‘‘a longerterm plan to meet future education needs, as growth is expected to continue’’.

‘‘This will include future plans for Cromwell College. We are working with Cromwell College to develop a master plan, which will help ensure the school will be able to cater for the forecast roll growth in the Cromwell area’’.

Rolls at other Central Otago schools were also being monitored, and redevelopments were planned at Maniototo Area School and Lawrence Area School, Ms Casey said.

The schools were allocated $7 million and $4 million respectively by the ministry last year.

Design information would be available later in the year and construction was planned to start at both schools in mid to late 2019, Ms Casey said.

❛ [Ministry of Education representatives] acknowledge the challenge we are facing with roll growth

and our ageing relocatable buildings