By Jordan Baker and Angus Dalton
A decision by St Ignatius College to build a black fence around its junior campus has ruffled Riverview residents, who have enjoyed almost 150 years of unfettered access to the sprawling grounds and are puzzled by the sudden change.
Locals said temporary fencing went up when the COVID-19 pandemic began and that the college recently held a public meeting to inform them it would become permanent around the Regis Campus. The site includes two playing fields and three basketball courts that were previously used by neighbours.
Temporary fencing has been erected around Saint Ignatius College and it will soon be replaced by a permanent barrier.Credit:Rhett Wyman
Greg Carter, who has lived across the road from the college for eight years, said the grounds – which take up most of the suburb of Riverview, next to Lane Cove – had been a “community-kind-of-centre” for more than a century.
“First of all, the temporary fencing is essentially atrocious,” said he said. “Secondly, it’s the fact that college grounds aren’t open. Usually, it’s open to the public – it has been for years.
“It’s kind of getting more and more private, I guess, which is kind of against the spirit of what the place has been for so long.”
Rob Mills, a resident of 30 years, said the St Ignatius grounds had been a de-facto public park.
“It creates a bit of an us and them thing ... It seems a bit over the top. [We used] to look out on a nice parkland and, suddenly, there’ll be a big black fence.”
Residents are concerned a fence will create an “us and them” mentality. Credit:Rhett Wyman
Another local, who did not want to be named due to their links with the school, said the college’s generosity with its grounds had created a strong relationship with its neighbours: “There’s a bad vibe around Lane Cove.”
However, some are sympathetic, especially as the college charges more than $28,000 for a year 6 student, plus more than $21,000 in boarding fees.
“It’s their property,” said one, on the condition of anonymity. “COVID-19 isn’t over either – we’ve got 12,000 cases a day in NSW.”
The college’s principal Paul Hine said the decision was made after a risk assessment analysis.
“This is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our youngest students in the primary school and those in the junior boarding community,” he said in a statement.
“The college has been in discussions with nearby neighbours to discuss the aesthetics and positioning of the fencing. Members of the local community will be welcomed to enjoy areas of the college grounds during school holiday periods when students are not in residence.”
The senior campus will not be fenced. It features two ovals, a rose garden, a pool, a wharf, a boathouse, an observatory, a farm and a mountain bike shed – although some of these are not open for public use.
A similar attempt by the NSW Department of Education to fence Yeo Park Infants’ School was thwarted by a 2019 campaign by the community, which has long played on its grounds. At that school, kindy to year 2 students play on an unfenced field used by the public close to Old Canterbury Road.
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