An Auckland promoter of a proposed private school on the old Wanaka Primary School site says there is a "strong possibility" the project will go ahead after he inspected the site and buildings this week.
A group associated with Wentworth College, in Auckland, which has plans to establish a private school in Queenstown, is now considering an additional private school, this one in Wanaka, after being approached by a New Zealand investor who is negotiating the purchase of two blocks of land containing most of the buildings at the old Wanaka Primary School in Tenby St.
In order to assess its potential for an independent school, Wentworth College Property Ltd director Stephen Fleming visited the Wanaka site on Wednesday with the unnamed investor, who hoped to rent the property to the backers of the "Wanaka College project".
While a "bit of tweaking" would be required, Mr Fleming was impressed with the teaching spaces, administration areas and other facilities at the property.
"The site would work quite well with the addition of one needed building we'd have to put up," he said.
A final decision was dependent on confirmation of the property purchase and would be made in the next couple of weeks.
The Ministry of Education said earlier this week the conditional period for the sale and purchase agreements on the two blocks of land had been extended until the end of this month.
In contrast to the Queenstown independent school model, which would be a full secondary school from year 7 to 13, the Wanaka school would cater for year 12 and 13 pupils only.
It would be a "finishing school" for up to 250 pupils from throughout New Zealand and overseas. Pupils would live in supervised independent accommodation and the curriculum would have a heavy outdoor adventure focus.
The school would be funded by investors and tuition fees paid by parents, which would be about $15,000 per year, plus the cost of the outdoor activities. Educational staff from Wentworth College would be involved in its establishment but it would be a "stand-alone operation".
