1 July 2024

Amended plans for Bungendore High School lodged for community feedback

| Claire Sams
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Bungendore High School sign

The updated plans for Bungendore High School are open for public feedback until late July. Photo: Bungendore High School Facebook.

The public can now have their say on amended plans for the new Bungendore High School.

The Department of Education submitted the amended State Significant Development (SSD) application to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (the DPHI) in June.

A December 2023 Land and Environment Court ruling found that the school had been planned around an invalid development consent.

Following the ruling, the plans were amended to remove portions of the development that were to be located on Crown land and any access points that ran through Crown land.

Changes include the removal of Block D, the removal of proposed vehicle access to the school from McCusker Drive, landscaping revisions and removal of buildings that were to be located on the agricultural plot.

Member for Monaro Steve Whan said he was pleased works were progressing on the long-awaited school.

“Families in the Bungendore community deserve to have a permanent high school to send their kids to, but legal battles around this project have caused too much uncertainty around when this school will be built,” he said.

“I recognise the huge frustration this gives to many people who want to see the school built and I recognise the division this project has caused in the community.”

The plans have the Majara/Gibraltar Streets Precinct as the NSW Government’s preferred location, though the June project update from School Infrastructure NSW said a review of alternate sites would be carried out “in parallel to the SSD application”.

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An independent review commissioned by School Infrastructure NSW previously found the Gibraltar/Majara location was “significantly superior” to all others that had been considered.

“I have urged the Department to look at alternative sites to validate that the current site remains the fastest and most viable location, and I am pleased that this process is underway,” said Mr Whan.

“Given the time lost, it is imperative that further analysis on enrolment projections is underway to ensure the school is the right size for the community now and into the future.”

However, student capacity – an estimated 450 students – and the number of staff – 41 people – are set to remain the same.

According to the June project update, as medium- and long-term enrolment numbers may be higher than previously forecast, the Department of Education was “reviewing analysis of projected demand to ensure community needs can be met”.

Spokesperson for the Save Bungendore Park community group, Maureen Elgood, described the amended plans as “beyond bizarre”.

“The DoE [Department of Education] is trying to convince the planning authorities they can build a school without an oval,” she said.

“The amended DA they’ve lodged is for half a school. It’s a desperate, sneaky attempt to find a legal loophole.”

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Ms Elgood called on the NSW Government to go back to the drawing board and consider different locations and designs.

“By far the quickest way to get a great high school for Bungendore is to tear up this plan and start again,” she said.

“We say stop wasting time on a plan that should never have seen the light of day.”

The plans also include other changes in addition to those driven by the removal of Crown land in the project, such as changes to planned landscaping, removal of a covered walkway to the school common, changes to the layout of the science lab and additional storage space in the music performance space.

An updated traffic assessment includes 21 ‘kiss and drop’ zones to be spread between Turallo Terrace (six spaces), Gibraltar Street (four spaces) and Majara Street (11 spaces), as well as 56 on-site parking spaces for staff, students and visitors.

Additionally, the amended plans look to keep the Bungendore Swimming Pool.

In February 2023, a Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) spokesperson said the pool would “close at the end of this summer swim season”. However, it was later announced the pool would stay open into 2024, and the removal of Block D from the plans means it is proposed to remain.

The amended plans are available via the NSW Planning Portal and are open for feedback until 22 July.

Original Article published by Claire Sams on About Regional.

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Greg Cameron1:47 pm 04 Jul 24

Is there a better use of Mick Sherd oval during school hours than by school children?

If so, what is it?

To end all legal doubt, now and in the future, Parliament can make an Act for how Mick Sherd oval is to be used during school hours at the Department of Education’s cost.

The Act of Parliament can also provide for the use of Crown Land that is currently used for the swimming pool for when the pool is demolished, as it will be.

Do the government and the opposition support such an Act of Parliament?

Does QPRC support such an Act of Parliament?

Do the families of current and future students support such an Act of Parliament?

Does Save Bungendore Park Inc. support such an Act of Parliament?

If so, there’s no problem.

Greg Cameron8:14 am 03 Jul 24

Bungendore swimming pool is built on Crown Land – or at least half of it is. The pool’s other half is built on land now owned by the Department of Education. The fact that the pool is built on Crown Land means that this use of the land complies with NSW Crown Land legislation.

The part of the pool that is built on Crown Land can be removed by the same legal process that allowed the pool to be built there in the first place.

The pool will be demolished because QPRC is replacing it with a new pool at the new Sports Hub.

An Act of Parliament would ensure that the land was used for a purpose approved by the Parliament – by replacing a swimming pool with a school hall. An Act would strengthen control over the use of the state’s Crown Land.

The alternative is for the pool to closed unless it is re-furbished at QPRC’s cost.

QPRC does not incur the cost of removing the pool if the land is transferred to the Department of Education through an Act of Parliament.

QPRC can advise when it will demolish the pool if the site is not used for a school hall, and how it would then use the land.

Greg Cameron9:36 am 02 Jul 24

The best use of Mick Sherd oval during school hours is by school children.

QPRC will demolish the existing swimming pool because it is being replaced by a new pool at the new Sports Hub. The best use of the land currently occupied by the swimming pool is for a school hall/gym and canteen.

The Department of Education is the body that plans new schools in NSW. The Department is trusted by the community for its competence and ethics.

It is convenient for those behind Save Bungendore Park Inc. to allege that the Department of Education is incompetent and unethical.

The Department said in its Amended Development Application: “Some of the elements which were originally proposed, as detailed within the EIS or subsequent Amendment Report/Supplementary Response to Submissions (SRtS) (including the agricultural plot building and associated works, school hall and school canteen) that have been removed as part of the amendment will be proposed in future as part of alternative planning pathways.”

Once the site is validated, one “alternative planning pathway” would be to make an Act of Parliament authorising the use of crown land as originally proposed.

Maureen Elgood10:39 pm 02 Jul 24

So easy, just amend legislation to enable DoE the plans for Bungendore High School! The CLMAct is there to protect all Crown Land in NSW, not just Bungendore Park and the Common!

Maureen Elgood10:57 pm 02 Jul 24

Greg Cameron QPRC are not able to demolish the swimming pool without the permission of the Crown Land Minister and DoE are very aware that they can’t demolish it for the same reason! DoE have excluded all crown land from the SSD because they are again trying to circumvent
legislation to push through this develoment. To change the legislation for Crown Land as you suggest will change the legislation for all NSW Crown Land and how disastrous would that be to public land in NSW.

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