Access Canberra issues stop work notice to Brindabella Christian College over building compliance issue

The school board chair Greg Zwajgenberg said the stop work notice on the Lyneham campus was the result of "an anonymous vexatious phone call to the department based on a supposed encroachment to our ELC playground areas" caused by the prefabricated temporary classrooms.

"The call was purely designed to disrupt our construction timetable," Mr Zwajgenberg said.

"It had zero effect, other than to expose certain individuals bitterness toward our success."

An ACT government spokeswoman said Access Canberra inspected the premises on August 9 after it received a complaint.

A stop work notice under the Building Act 2004 was issued on August 10.

"The stop work will remain in place until compliance issues are rectified," the spokeswoman said.

"Given this is an active investigation, no further information can be provided at this stage."

Under national regulations for early childhood education and care providers, an early learning centre must have at least 7 square metres of outdoor space for each child at the service.

The private school has recently been under scrutiny from education authorities, including the federal Education Department and the new Registration Standards Advisory Board for ACT non-government schools.

The new prefabricated classrooms were installed in July. Meanwhile, a double-storey building has been under construction at the Lyneham campus since 2021.

Parents were told in a letter from Principal Keturah Jones at the beginning of Term 3 that the new buildings would be opening "soon".

However, Mr Zwajgenberg said the school was now focused on expansions to the Charnwood campus, known as the Norwest campus, with a new science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) centre.

"As our 2-storey classroom wing is now completed awaiting final certification, and will then open for use (sic). The newer prefabricated classrooms delivered to site are not scheduled to commence construction, as our efforts are squarely focussed on Norwest.

"Once we complete the last of our design work on the Norwest STEAM Centre, and all remaining BA and associated Certifications are then processed, all remaining construction will commence simultaneously across the two campuses.

"Our objective is total educational space and curriculum readiness by Term 1 2024."

READ MORE:

The school had a large increase in enrolments this year, with 157 extra students in February 2023 compared to February 2022.

Mr Zwajgenberg said the school had enrolled more than 100 additional students for 2024.

He said the school was going to buy a bus fleet to transport students between the Charnwood and Lyneham campuses as it sought to extend the Charnwood campus, which currently goes to year 6, to year 10.

"Enhancing key educational pathways at Brindabella Christian College, in furthering our strategic direction of STEAM and the development of our Norwest Campus toward ELC to year 10, we have been working with the ACT Government Educational Executive to deliver the best possible outcomes for our students," he said.

"In particular we have placed significant emphasis on the delivery of infrastructure at Norwest to accomodate (sic) our 2024 increasing student population. As part of the development we will be acquiring a personalised bus fleet which will move students between our Central and Norwest campuses, designed to more strongly link our STEAM educational activities across the two campuses."

We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.