Mount Errington house school plan approved by planning panel

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Opponents of the project had argued the school was unnecessary and would worsen traffic congestion and noise. They worried the changes would damage the building’s heritage “fabric” and decried the removal of 41 trees.

Hornsby Shire mayor Philip Ruddock, who clarified he was not speaking on behalf of the council, told a public meeting the proposal was incompatible with the building’s character.

The commission said it received other submissions arguing the project would have “significant, irreversible, detrimental impacts on the heritage values of this outstanding, intact heritage home in perpetuity”.

But supporters told a public meeting the proposal would restore the old estate. The council said the school was a permissible development and appropriate, while the Planning Department said the “impacts on surroundings regarding heritage, traffic, visual privacy, tree loss and noise are considered acceptable”.

Supporters of the project said the provision of a “smaller, independent, progressive school” would provide an alternative to mainstream public and private schools in the area.

Commissioners Peter Duncan and Adrian Pilton said in their decision that turning the estate into a preschool and school was an “orderly and economic use of the site” and any residual impacts from the project could be mitigated through imposed conditions.

“The commission finds that the project will provide a range of public benefits, including the provision of a new and alternative education option for the Hornsby [local government area], the conservation and adaptive reuse of a heritage-listed building and the provision of construction and operational jobs,” the decision said.