Macarthur FC Submits $21 Million Proposal for Sports-Focused High School and Childcare Centre in Cawdor

Isuzu UTE A-League outfit Macarthur FC has submitted a multi-million-dollar development proposal to the NSW Planning Portal to construct a specialised sports-focused high school and integrated childcare centre in southwest Sydney.

The development plan targets a 42-acre site located at 186 Cawdor Road, Cawdor, situated in close proximity to the expanding Camden township. The infrastructure blueprint covers a co-educational secondary school catering to students from Year 7 through to Year 12, maintaining a total campus enrollment capacity of 1,200 students. Additionally, the development features a co-located early childhood learning facility designed to accommodate 120 children, offering local families a single destination for daily drop-off and pickup logistics.

According to official scoping documentation, the high school and childcare facility will operate as distinct commercial entities while sharing central infrastructure, with both divisions reporting directly to the centralised Macarthur FC board.

A primary drawcard of the campus layout is its direct physical integration with the club’s nearby Macarthur Park Centre of Excellence. This training base, which is already approved for the club’s top-tier A-League squad, features four full-size pitches, two half fields, a high-performance gym, an advanced aquatic recovery centre, team rooms, and the club’s corporate administrative offices. Enrolled students will tap into these elite sporting resources as part of everyday campus life.

Mitigating Infrastructure Deficits in Growth Corridors

The project aims to directly address severe infrastructure deficits affecting southwest Sydney and the Macarthur region, which represent some of the fastest-growing residential development corridors in the country. By housing academic and elite athletic progression under a single roof close to home, the club intends to alleviate the financial and emotional toll placed on local families who are currently forced to travel extensive distances across metropolitan Sydney for evening academy training blocks.

The commercial execution of the build is projected to generate roughly 44 immediate construction jobs throughout the engineering phase, followed by the creation of approximately 95 permanent, high-value education and administrative roles upon operational completion.

Should the project receive final regulatory approval from state planning authorities, the institution will join an elite network of established sports-focused high schools across New South Wales, including Westfields Sports High in Fairfield West and The Hills Sports High in Seven Hills.

The project will now transition into its next planning phase, which requires the completion of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement before formal building approvals can be finalised.

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