HURLSTONE Agricultural High School at Glenfield should be listed as a heritage zone.
That was the call made by about 150 protesters on Saturday.
They said the State Government's plan to sell off 140 hectares of the 160-hectare grounds for housing would be ``lost history''.
The school was founded by John Kinloch, one of the first graduates of Sydney University, who had a life-long dream to establish an educational institute.
He set up the school near Ashfield in 1906, then moved to the present site in 1926. But Mr Kinloch's ``dream'' could be only months away from being lost.
Unless a growing campaign by the community can stop it.
Last week, Campbelltown Council including its Labor councillors voted to oppose the land sale.
A letter from Education Minister Verity Firth to Hurlstone director Tiffany Spiers said: ``The Department of Education and Training will accelerate [our italics] its sale and assets.''
Outraged school supporters expressed concern on Saturday.
Among them was Lloyd Setter this year's school captain who said the school had opened doors for him, and many others.
``This year I have been the president of Hurlstone's Rural Youth Association. Being an active member of the Rural Youth since 2003, I have been proud to represent Hurlstone by participating in the Camden Shows and living in at the Sydney Royal Agricultural Shows with Hurlstone's very successful Aryshire Cattle team,'' he said.
``Hurlstone could be a centre of excellence that is visited by children from preschool age to post-graduate aged students.
``A place the Government could be proud of, a place where ethical, sustainable practices so desperately needed in our state and country are showcased.
``We are all morally and ethically bound to considering the best use of resources we have left here in Australia so don't waste Hurlstone's potential to teach us more about the best long-term decisions that we need to make.''
Other key problems examined included the environmental impact and losing the rolling hills of the long-time ``green belt'' zone.
Also, a large section of the lot is flood lands and it has power pylons with overhanging wires making it an undesirable place to build residential properties.
Former student Allan McClelland, who attended the school in the 1940s, said the school should have been heritage listed years ago.
P&C treasurer Lucy Tharssis said the school was not going to ``fund the State Government's incompetence''.
``They can't budget their own state in 2008,'' she said. ``From my understanding, this whole property was to be used for education purposes and should not be touched.''
Former student and mayor Brenton Banfield said the State Government attempted to sell the land in 1982, and failed.
``If we can heritage list the land it could prevent this from happening again in the future because they [State Government] see this as a solution but it is an important place and it has state significance,'' he said.
Hurlstone Agricultural High School is a selective co-educational public secondary school.
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