Last Thursday the development application (DA) by the University of
Notre Dame for 1- 7 Moorgate was made available for viewing.
After calls for the proposal not to be considered by the City of Sydney
Council, Notre Dame disclosed their expansion plans. Chippendale Residents Interest Group said overprojections and a lack of clarity regarding the DA has aggravated the local community.
The Group’s spokesperson said: “Since the University of Notre Dame
first opened in Chippendale it has purchased several sites and expanded
its operations more than five-fold.
“Our estimates indicate more than 3,500 students already attend the Chippendale campus. This is significantly over projections from when the university first opened and contrary to previous undertakings.
“Last year, we were told that the 2008 Masterplan was out of date and
that a new Masterplan was being prepared. So far, the University has
refused to disclose its new plans.”
Ealier this year, The Australian reported Notre Dame had a growth rate of 250 per cent – the highest growth spurt recorded since 2007. The
potential expansion of the university sets a challenge for the suburb of Chippendale in relation to the amount of open space accommodating the population growth.
A spokesperson for Notre Dame said: “The Sydney campus is home
to approx 4000 enrolled students (full and part-time) which are housed across its sites at; Darlinghurst, Broadway, Ballarat, Lithgow, Wagga Wagga and Werribee.”
Notre Dame sees the achievement of its growth enrolment targets, as set out in the Strategic Plan, as positive endorsement of the calibre of education it provides within the tertiary sector.
Not only with regard to the DA application, the current Central Park
project Chippendale faces a marked increase in residents and workers.
Notre Dame is a private organisation and able to act without the same
constraints as The University of Sydney or UTS.
Chippendale Residents Interest Group said: “In the past the University
similarly refused to disclose its plans until Council stepped in and made it a condition of a development application that was being considered at that time. The success of last Thursday remains
to be seen. City of Sydney councillor John McInerney said: “We will wait for an assessment from Council Officers.”
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