Carinya School plans to build third campus in Inverell; community meeting to be held to gauge interest

Set to offer "more choice" for education, with the added benefit of enticing people to make the move to the Sapphire City, the idea has been the focus of a local steering committee for about 12 months.

Carinya School, which has campuses in both Tamworth and Gunnedah, have taken over that drive to establish what would be their third Christian school, expecting it to encompass surrounding towns including Glen Innes.

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The steering committee was made up of six leaders in the Christian faith, including pastors Peter Barber from the Presbyterian Church, and Paul Hattingh from Grace Church.

The group met with the Carinya leadership team, toured both campuses, and have now whole-heartedly given them their blessing.

"The reception we've had so far... I think the school would flourish," Mr Hattingh enthused.

"We're not coming at it with the idea of adding competition, but rather to offer people genuine choice," Mr Barber added.

Principal David Jones is "very excited" at the prospect of providing this opportunity in Inverell.

"If the school was to go ahead, I think providing another option brings an injection into the town educationally but it would also bring new people," he said.

"We have had families move to Tamworth and Gunnedah specifically for our Christian education."

For the school to become a reality, the interest and "appetite" of the wider community needs to be gauged.

This will be done with an all-welcome community session to be held on Tuesday, November 2 at the RSM Club, from 7pm.

"If we get a strong attendance on the night, it would put us in a stronger position for the school to commence in 2023," Mr Jones explained.

"We've done a bit of planning - and we have two schools already and know how it works - so our biggest challenge now is a location."

He explained that land prices were "quite good", with parcels of land available which would "suit quite well".

"We do have to go through a process to make sure there is compliance with zoning regulations. The big thing is the State Significant Develop process is the lengthiest process we need to go through," he said.

"But we are quite open to looking at different places."

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