Photograph: suppliedPhotograph: suppliedcourt is being asked to rule on a controversial proposed development at an exclusive girls school in the southern highlands, where locals and scientists are concerned about potential environmental impacts.
The development, on the grounds of the Mittagong school, would require hundreds of trees to be felled. The development of the cabins as well as a hall with a common room and kitchen, a communal seating area and on-site parking, would also require two access roads to be built to ensure they were fire-compliant.Dr Ian Wight, a water scientist and senior lecturer at Western Sydney University, said he was worried about possible impacts on the Nattai River, which runs through the property.
“I’ve got concerns, particularly with the degree of [land] clearing, that it’s going to threaten the stability of the soils, losing that protective cove.” In a statement, principal Sarah McGarry said Frensham had sought to “minimise any adverse environmental impacts”. Former Frensham student and local horticulturist Sarah Cains also opposes the plan, calling on the school she loves to use a different area of the site for cabins.