By MELISSA MEEHAN
THERE’S still life in the old girl yet, Lilydale’s former Swinburne campus could be providing education within months.
With a combination of both TAFE and university providers, enrolments for tertiary students at Lilydale could start as soon as January next year, according to Victorian Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall.
On Thursday, Mr Hall as well as representatives from the Yarra Ranges Council, met at the Lilydale site to announce that the state would give the council $100,000 to develop and implement a vocational and tertiary education strategy for the site.
Mr Hall said the grant would enable the council to engage with committed TAFE and higher education providers to have one or more of them relocate to the existing facility.
“Works will be completed before the end of the year and we anticipate local students will be benefiting from the new arrangements in time for the start of the next academic year,” he said.
Yarra Ranges Council mayor Jim Child said he was excited by the possibilities of having an active TAFE and higher education facility along with civic and community services on one site.
“The coucnil’s vision for the site is based on a feasibility study completed earlier this year by the Box Hill Institute that identified limited interest in acquiring the whole site for education,” Cr Child said.
“The study also identified the need for us to consider other opportunities for the site that would benefit our community.”
He said the opportunity to link education with local industries, including hospitality, tourism, agriculture and emergency management was also an exciting prospect.
But not everybody was celebrating Thursday’s announcement.
“No one is going to be fooled by what is just another feasibility study,” Monbulk MP and opposition spokesman for education James Merlino said.
“There is nothing in this announcement that protects and university and TAFE building from being sold off.”
Mr Merlino called on the government to rule out any rezoning or sale of education facilities a Lilydale and said it was the government’s worst kept secret that it would rezone the land and sell off the building to the council.
“Mr Napthine must categorically rule out his secret plans to tear down classrooms and lecture theatres and replace them with council offices.”
