Catholic school planned for Pa¯p¯amoa
Multi-million-dollar project to open with 100 students for term one next year
milestone”.
“We are pretty happy.” Roil began scouting locations for the school 10 years ago, eventually buying the land at Pa¯pa¯moa five years ago, he said.
“It was essentially farmland with no surrounding houses, and it was significant farmland — there was nothing there. That was very, very early stages of that development building up in that area.”
Roil said the church had been working on plans for the school while waiting for the Government’s agreement. It would now work with builders and the project management team to establish the different stages of construction.
Until those plans were finalised, Roil could not say how much the school would cost, other than “it will be a multi-milliondollar project”.
“It’s not an insignificant investment to build a school these days.”
Roil has co-ordinated the establishment of the school on behalf of Bishop Stephen Lowe, of the Hamilton Catholic Diocese. Bishop Lowe is the proprietor for nearly all Catholic integrated schools in the Hamilton Diocese, of which there are 28 primary and five secondary colleges, including Aquinas College, which opened in 2003.
The future students of Suzanne Aubert Catholic School will join the diocese’s network, which includes 9700 students.
A governance facilitator and Board of Trustees are expected to be confirmed next week.
Like most integrated schools in New Zealand, the church will own the land and buildings but the school will be state-run.
A spokesman for Education Minister Chris Hipkins told the
the school would “provide educational choice and quality provision for future students in the Pa¯pa¯moa-te Puke area”.
“The prospect of a new Catholic school was raised in 2017. Since then, Ministry of Educationled negotiations have included consulting with other schools in the area to ensure the population can sustain it alongside existing schools and other schools that are planned for the area as part of the National Education Growth Plan,” the spokesman said.
“The school will fund its own property, but government funding will be provided for operating and salary costs.”
Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller said he had supported this outcome for five years and was pleased the Government had come to the party.
“Pa¯pa¯moa is our fastest growing suburb and we need this school.
“As we expand further east, more schools and services will be needed still,” Muller said.
“I’m delighted for our local Catholic community who now have local choice [and] in turn might take some pressure off other local schools in the short term.”
Golden Sands School principal Melanie Taylor said the new school would be a “great support for us”.
“Obviously we are growing rapidly and it gives people a choice,” she said.
Last month, the
reported a Mitre 10 Mega, BP service station, medical centre and big-box retail shops were among a swag of new developments planned for to help cater to Pa¯pa¯moa’s rapidly growing population.
In 2013, Wairakei, the Pa¯pa¯moa suburb that includes Golden Sands and the new school, had 126 residents.
By 2018, it had 3345.
A tsunami refuge was initially planned to be integrated into the school grounds. Tauranga City Council stockpiled about 10,000 cubic metres of dirt fill on the site, but removed it over summer after changing course on the refuge plan.