The shocking closure of Mowbray College in June 2012 has been a catastrophic loss to the school community and the Shire of Melton. In addition to the devastating social crisis of the school's demise another potential loss looms. The fate of the innovative architecture that is a distinctive feature of the Patterson campus hangs in the balance, as the administrator crunches the numbers, as debts continue to mount, and as potential property developers unsympathetic to the significance of the school begin to close in.

If it takes a village to raise a child then Mowbray indeed served as an example in terms of not only community values, but as an educational environment imagined in the very form of a village by prominent award-winning Melbourne architect, writer and educator - Norman Day.

Mowbray’s buildings designed by Day have been described as ‘Melbourne’s most joyful set of Postmodern structures’, a ‘thoroughly inventive and rich complex of school buildings’, and ‘an ironic critique and celebration of Australian building types’ in a book on Melbourne architecture. These buildings, once the site of a school that has done great good for its students and community, deserve heritage protection. Given the unfortunate circumstances, the need to protect them is urgent.

In short – the demolition of Mowbray’s unique buildings is a very real risk. Such an outcome would be yet another cruel blow to an already deeply wounded community, and an irreparable cultural loss to the town of Melton and the state of Victoria.

We, the undersigned, wish to support the application for the heritage protection of the Norman Day architecture of the Mowbray College Patterson Campus, located in Melton, Victoria, Australia. We understand heritage protection would still allow the campus to be sold and sympathetic change to occur if required. We wish to see the buildings continue to be used for educational purposes, or converted into housing if a new institutional occupant cannot be found.