By XAVIER SMERDON
A WESTERN suburbs-based millionaire has promised to bring jobs and education opportunities to the West after purchasing the abandoned Mowbray College Caroline Springs campus.
Mr Intaj Khan, the CEO of the Western Institute of Technology, purchased the Town Centre campus for $6.73 million last Wednesday.
Mr Khan, who lives in Tarneit and who is also running as a candidate in the Harrison Ward in the Wyndham Council elections, said he believed his purchase stopped property developers from turning the site into units.
“There were property developers interested as well and we believe that is what pushed the price a lot higher,” Mr Khan said.
“For a 1.25 hectare area in Caroline Springs this is actually quite expensive.”
Fitzroys, the real estate company overseeing the sale did not respond to requests for comment but it is understood the school’s Brookside campus, also located in Caroline Springs, sold for $3.3 million while the Patterson campus in Maldon, sold for $8.5 million.
Mr Khan said he would be opening a vocational education facility at the former secondary school site.
“We will be teaching things like building construction, business management and aged care,” he said.
“We are also in the process of obtaining Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) approval so that we can teach Year 11 and 12 students here too.”
Mowbray College officially closed down at the end of June after almost 30 years in the community when it was revealed the school was being crushed by more than $18 million of debt.
Last month Star revealed that almost 70 teachers remained jobless after the closure.
Mr Khan revealed to Star in June that he had made a bid to save the school which was later knocked back.
“I could have saved the school in the beginning and we could have made a larger investment if it wasn’t for a lack of management from the government and the administrators,” he said last week.
“I feel sad that the students aren’t there anymore and that people had to lose their jobs but happy that we’ve been able to do something positive in the area.”
“We will be employing local people to run this facility and giving jobs priority to people who live in the area,” Mr Khan said.
“This will create 10 to 12 jobs immediately.”
Mr Khan said the western suburbs needed the confidence booster of a new education facility.
“I’m glad that we are spending money in the western suburbs because I think that it will definitely improve confidence that there are people who want to invest in the West,” he said.
The facility is expected to be up and running as soon as November.
