A BOOMING population on the Central Coast has prompted the planning for a new $204.5 million school.
The school's catchment area in the North Wyong District is expected to almost double to 70,000 by 2032.
More than 15,000 school-aged children will need somewhere to learn, and the St Philip's Christian College group wants to step up and meet that demand.
Already educating more than 5000 students, the independent organisation has an existing cluster of eight schools and early learning centres across the Hunter and Central Coast region, and have since purchased a 40-hectare site in Charmhaven to expand its education.
Located between Arizona Road and the Pacific Highway, the proposed site has a residential development area to the east and a rural-residential development to the west.
It is north of the Warnervale-Wadalba land release with a statistical area, accounting for 47 per cent of the new residential housing growth, according to a March 2022 scoping report.
"The only existing independent school option within the area in which SPCC Charmhaven is proposed is Lakes Grammar, an Anglican school of 908 students in Warnervale," the report read.
"Independent school enrolments have grown 68 per cent over the past 10 years, twice as fast as the growth in Catholic schools (34 per cent) and 17-times as fast as the Government sector."
From an economic perspective, the SPCC Charmhaven school has an initial investment of $35 million and its total operation costs over the next 25 years are estimated at $26 million.
"The school is expected to support 125 full-time jobs and the construction would provide a significant economic boost," the report stated.
SPCC executive principal Graeme Irwin said his organisation was interested in establishing the K-12 school with an early learning centre and Dale Special School.
"To this end we are working with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment regarding our state significant development application which was submitted in August 2023," he said.
The documents revealed the infrastructure would be called St Philip's Christian College and Narnia Early Learning Centre and will educate up to 554 students in Stage 1 and 1583 students by Stage 4.
The new campus would also include of outdoor and indoor sport facilities, a chapel and an 800-seat performing arts centre.
The need for education facilities continues to persist among all three sectors, with the growing areas of Medowie and Huntlee pushing for the demand.
Port Stephens Council's 2016 Medowie Planning Strategy predicts more than 7000 new residents will call Medowie home by the mid-2030s.
The state government is confident a new Medowie high school will be constructed by 2027, meanwhile Labor promised a new high school in the 2023 election for Huntlee, Branxton and Greta students at the rapidly growing Huntlee housing estate.
Huntlee, which lies between North Rothbury and Branxton, is planned to house 20,000 people. The 2021 Census showed the estate's population had grown from 900 to 2300 in five years.
