College Statement regarding the Development Application for the proposed Extension to Education Establishment (Playing Fields and Outdoor Play Areas)

Clearview Christian College commenced in January 2023 with 33 students, and has now grown to 124 students.  The College is expanding in 2027 to Year 12 with the overall College enrolment set to increase to 150 students. Strategic planning surveys and increasing waitlists demonstrate significant demand for future College growth and necessary strategic developments in response to this.  This strong growth ultimately benefits our regional community.

Our educational vision includes a holistic education program that provides growth opportunities beyond just academic goals, holding a focus on students’ physical, social, and emotional wellbeing.  In light of this, the College has developed a hybrid outdoor education model that is intentionally focused on connecting our students to the unique environment and community in which we live, through authentic learning opportunities.  This focus has contributed to our strong enrolment growth.

Given the College’s growth (current and anticipated) and to respond to the needs of our students, the College has lodged a development application with Gladstone Regional Council for proposed sporting fields on Lease F. This development will establish vital outdoor educational space and playing fields to support the College’s growing student population. Importantly, the development will not include buildings, public entertainment facilities, sporting field lighting or additional parking facilities.  The impact on the environment, and the surrounding community, will be minimised as far as possible.

In this regard, environmental protection has been central to our planning process.  The proposal retains substantial areas of existing vegetation, including buffer zones around the sporting fields that significantly exceed usual requirements, to protect ecological values, maintain visual amenity and preserve the natural character of the site.  The proposal has already been considered through relevant Commonwealth and State regulatory processes and is supported by extensive specialist environmental and technical assessments. The College will continue to work constructively with Council and relevant agencies and will comply with all approvals, permits and legislative requirements applicable to the project.

As the development application remains under assessment, we believe it is appropriate to allow the statutory process to proceed in the usual course, and we will continue to engage with these processes in a respectful and constructive manner.