A $2.8 million project to relocate the ET Australia Secondary College in Gosford is the latest to be approved under the NSW Government’s Planning System Acceleration Program.
The existing school, which provides training and schooling to Year 7 to 10 secondary college students, will be relocated nearby within the Imperial Shopping Centre, while a new Year 11 and 12 campus is built at 125 Donnison Street.
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said the new development will increase capacity from 170 to 280 students across two campuses, create opportunities for 40 new jobs and inject $2.8 million into the local economy.
“We’re using every lever at our disposal to keep the NSW economy ticking throughout the pandemic, and I’m very happy to see another shovel-ready project being given the green light,” Mr Stokes said.
“A bigger ET Australia Secondary College will cater for more students, provide more jobs and help breathe new life into the Gosford CBD.
“The relocation of the existing school could also allow for the development of Gosford’s proposed regional library, which is earmarked for that location.”
Parliamentary Secretary for the Central Coast and Member for Terrigal Adam Crouch said it was a fantastic example of unused commercial premises being transformed for new and improved purposes.
“The development is now ready to get underway and will create 26 much-needed construction jobs and an additional 14 operational jobs once completed – on top of the existing 35 jobs that will be retained,” Mr Crouch said.
“The expansion of the school, which has been operating for eight years, will provide an alternate learning pathway for more students who need it.”
The ET Australia Secondary College is the latest to be approved as part of the NSW Government’s Planning System Acceleration Program which is keeping people in jobs and the economy moving during COVID-19.
To date the program has seen 91 projects determined, creating opportunities for more than 50,000 new jobs, and generated more than $25 billion of economic investment for the NSW economy.
