Use of the school was phased out with the introduction of the Bendigo Education Plan but the building has lay empty since 2010 beckoning bored teenagers to get up to no good.

The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development have no plan for the site now the building is gone, much like the old Golden Square Secondary College which was also phased out.

A nearby resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said he noticed a number of police activity five months ago.

He said cops often responded to alarms being set off on the school site.

“They were up there quite regularly, especially over the warmer months.

“It was always peaking with out-of-hours activity.”

He said there were often people around the building - hiding in a room or vandalising.

“We kept a good eye on what was going on,” he said.

“I never noticed any squatters.”

He wrote a letter to the Department of Education expressing his concern about the “white elephant’ on top of the hill.

“It’s a prime piece of real estate,” he said.

“You would have though the governing body would have done something a bit sooner.”

Department spokesman Simon Craig said the future of the Golden Square Secondary College, Laurel Street Primary School and Bendigo North Primary School sites was yet to be determined.

“If it is determined that a former school site is no longer required, government requirements state that the department must first offer the property to other government departments and  the local council, and then to the public – at a price determined by the Valuer General,” he said.

“Proceeds of land sales are prioritised towards creating, maintaining, improving and extending assets that are core to current or future educational needs.”

Bendigo acting sergeant Forbes Klemm said people take advantage of the time it takes for the department to do something about the area.

“After months and months of nothing happening people took advantage,” he said.

“People drive past and see that no one is paying attention to the place.

“There are a handful of occasions where people are in there lighting fires ad doing graffiti.”

Enrolments declined at Bendigo North after it was announced the Bendigo Education Plan would be implemented. The result was the merger with Comet Hill to form Lightning Reef Primary School, at a new site on Holmes Road.