New High School in Bungendore

I have attached a pdf outlining the reasons for my objection

The location of the proposed Bungendore High School has been a sham from the day John Barilaro made his public statement on the corner of Bungendore Park. He has now resigned, The Palerang Mayor has resigned, the CEO of the Palerang Council has resigned and the Palerang Council have withdrawn support for the project, but the Department of Education still believe the local Bungendore community support the school.
I attended the information session put on by the Department of Education and the person I spoke to had not even walked over the site. That was simply an exercise in claiming they had consulted the local community.
The fact that the Department are prepared to deprive both the Bungendore Primary students and the Bungendore High School students of their green space for a couple of years before they even have approval for the project is a total disgrace. The Department of Education representative who I spoke to at the information session claimed they had no plan "B". That is a disgrace.

I am totally against building a High School on this location for the following reasons.
The opportunity to expand in a town with a considerable growth rate is restricted by all the boundaries.
The traffic flow in this location is already stretched by the existing Bungendore Public School, the Bungendore Preschool and the new Bungendore playground.
Existing amenities such as the Public toilets and associated carpark, the Community Centre , the to be built Abbeyfield House, the off lease dog area and the swimming pool will all be effected by this poor decision.
Bungendore Park is used extensively by the general public both local and the large flow of transient traffic on their way to the coast.
It is disgraceful that with so much land available close to the village that all this disruption has been inflicted on this community especially the primary school children who will be without their playing fields for years.

As a young person who has recently left high school I know about the challenges of bus trips from Bungendore into Canberra. Fortunately I was able to go to central Canberra high schools which are not now available to students from Bungendore and surrounding areas. At the end of each year children from Bungendore going into year 7 are split between 10 or more high schools in NSW and ACT, with bus trips of around 2 hours per day (even Queanbeyan high schools travel takes that long due to bus routes). It is great that a new pop up high school will start in Bungendore in 2023, but at what cost to primary and high school students who will have limited play space for a year or more if the school is further delayed. Please know that many people in Bungendore support the school as it has been designed and want it to open as soon as possible. We don't want our park to be saved from use by our young people, this is just so much rubbish!

Jenny, Im doing this on behalf of my husband Richard Gregory, because he is having computer problems. Jill Gregory. I will send his submission to you from my email address.

As a long term resident of Bungendore I strongly support the proposal. I appreciate that the Department has consulted with the community and taken on board community comments. I welcome this long needed facility and investment for our town. Please realise that the opposition to the location of the school has largely been fuelled by a well organised campaign from developers and political interests and it is in their interest to delay as long as possible in the hope an incoming government will agree to a different site. From my observations by far the majority of the community want this school built on this site as soon as possible. They want an end to the time wasting and to see their children in the promised new school. Let's get it built, let's not save the park from use by children.

I’ve lived in Bungendore for over 10 years and have seen the town infrastructure improve significantly which has benefited the community in many ways. The new and proposed Bungendore High School is no exception, it’s a fantastic asset for the community, most importantly the young people who will benefit for years to come. The design and location is perfect, and the overall school hub concept (both schools close to each other) makes absolute sense as a parent of four children of mixed ages. The location seems safe for children/young people to walk to and from school, allows for the sharing of resources, easy access to sports fields, town centre, and lower risk due to their being less traffic and major roads for children/young people to navigate. I am ultimately in support of this application, and would like to acknowledge the incredible work undertaken by NSW Department of Education and School Infrastructure.

As I am having difficulties attaching my submission I have emailed my submission to Jenny Chu as an attachment.

‘I object to the High School being built on the proposed site and believe there are much better alternative sites around Bungendore.
I believe strongly that the character of Bungendore Village should not be destroyed by this bad politically motivated decision.
Other considerations include:
The DoE has ignored public opinion which was demonstrated by the overwhelming number of objections and the election of a Council committed to opposing the plan.
I believe that it is poor planning to use demountables for both the proposed High School and the existing Primary School.
The proposed high school will turn Turallo Terrace into nothing more than a car park during week days.

The new high school is an exciting and much needed addition to the Bungendore community.
The design looks amazing and will meet so many on the needs of our children as they participate in future-focused learning.
I can't wait for the actual building to get started. So many families in this community are relying on the new Bungendore High School to open and provide a wonderful place for their children to learn and grow.

Please see attachment below

I do not support the proposal at its current site.

Queries around site selection were simply answered with a repeat of the "we surveyed 1000ha and nowhere else was suitable". This is unacceptable, and doesn’t pass the pub test. There would not be any reasonable person that would believe such a statement.

Contrary to DPIE's request - they’ve not said anything about the joint use arrangements and many matters - such as replacement of Council facilities and the Balladeers' Place - that are still up in the air. The project cannot be approved until these matters are settled.

They've ignored inconvenient matters such as the State Strategic Plan for Crown Land and various other policies. They didn't refer to DoE's own student number estimates and glossed over the fact that we all know the school will be overcrowded as soon as it opens.

The amendments have not adequately addressed the shortcomings identified in community submissions, especially the shortcomings of the chosen site, which can only be overcome by relocating the proposal to a site more suitable that will be future proof. There were 244 submissions saying this was the wrong site, yet the amendment is on the same site?! This is madness. It will also have great environmental impact, as an undersized, overly expensive school in the wrong location is a waste of natural resources as it won’t meet the future needs of the community and will require temporary solutions and replacement before it’s design life is met.

There are also new concerns:
- removal of community facilities (a major factor in initial Council and supposed community support) and no clarity around their replacement;

- turning Turallo Tce into a massive carpark and the complete failure to consult with residents of that street;

- further encroachment onto our Park by shifting construction westwards;

- ignoring public opinion which was demonstrated by the overwhelming number of objections and the election of a Council committed to opposing the plan;

- incompatible with the proposed preschool expansion (the SEARs require them to assess impact of proposed neighbouring development);

- provision of the truck turn-in in the Council building carpark will further reduce parking and result in large trucks reversing in a busy area;

- statements made at the information session that feedback would not be reported back - clearly the consultation exercise is a farce.

They have tinkered with the design, but they haven't addressed the main issue. They have chosen the wrong site.

The only way to fix that is to ditch this plan and start again, on a site that works for the entire community.

I support the Bungendore High School being built on Majara St.
It is a logical and practical location next to the primary school and pre-school.

I would like to see a High School in Bungendore just not on The Park. I have lived here for over 42 years and I have seen a lot of changes.

As the town in growing more and more closing a road that people use will make Turallo Terrace a main road with more traffic.
When were the public notified that the front of their homes would become carparks. Have they been sent the traffic study. What are their opinions.
Why was the other site deemed unsuitable. At the last minute this site was chosen as the only site.
You have made changes to the plans but what is stopping a fence being erected in years to come we have been lucky not to need the 1.2 m high fences that all Queanbeyan Schools have but in time what’s to say we won’t need this.

The public not being able to use The Park during School Hours we have just had a nice playground built and not being able to utilise the park when they get sick of the playground is upsetting.
After also seeing the amount of traffic the night of the infants concert and cars parked everywhere. Being told that behind the council building those parks will stay. It is to small and will be out grown and for $72,000,000 a much better High School could be built like Jerrabomberra is getting for less.

I am writing because I feel we could do much more for less. Why should a road be closed for a High School. Why at the last minute was the other site deemed unsuitable. Why is the number floating around 700 but to get this passed it has been reduced to 450. The preschool has been allocated 58 more placements. Making more traffic near the Preschool. When was the public made aware that they would loose their verge to carparks. Has another traffic study been completed. How has the High School been allowed to build on an unmarked Aboriginal grave. We also loose so much our council building, our community building and our pool. For what a High School that is to small so therefore when needed the High School will take the rest of the park. Who will replace all what we loose. Will our taxes pay for another Council building. The Pool won’t be built near the sewerage works. My children will be too old to be able to attend this High School, but it hasn’t hurt them catching a bus to High School. The Community actually raised the funds to build the Pool back before we were made to amalgamate. That’s right when we were a stand alone Council we had money ever since the amalgamation we don’t seem to have any. Why should we have to loose Our Park to a High School. It has also been mentioned that Cohorts do not mix so there is also no need to share facilities with the Primary School. $72,000,000 is a lot of money which could build such a better High School on a Greenfield site rather than using an existing building. Children safety is also being put at risk. Plus where the Agricultural is going floods when we get substantial rainfall. Please find 5-6 photos attached of the flooding of the back of the Bungendore Preschool in August of 2020.

I reiterate my objection to this project and state again that this is due to the proposed site for the school. The social wellbeing of our community is negatively impacted. We will lose our pool, community centre, parklands, council offices, the only green space in the village, unique streetscape, and dog walking area and these facilities/areas will not/cannot be replaced. The streetscape and village uniqueness will be destroyed with the introduction of modern school buildings crammed into a small area with no room for expansion. By the time the school is built it will be overcrowded based on population predictions for Bungendore and rural surrounds.
I believe a high school is beneficial for the community but only on a logical suitable site. My objection is about the proposed site which no amount of redesigns can fix. The school needs to be on a large plot (like Ashby property previously chosen) to allow ease of access, room for expansion and reduce the negatives impacting the village. The cost estimated for this project appears extreme.
The angst and loss caused to the local community around this project is all about the proposed site location. This is an easy fix given the other outlying locations identified and their suitability for a school. I object to the current proposed site.

The revised plans for the Bungendore High School look wonderful! It's evident that there's been a lot of effort and thought put into designing this school for our community. I support the Bungendore High School and look forward to seeing the updated design built in 2023. It is great to know that local teenage children from next year can now learn in the heart of their own community instead of wasting seven and a half hours each week sitting on a bus getting to and from Queanbeyan High School (our zoned public high school), like my son. I am excited about the benefits for our primary school children to extend their learning opportunities and the additional employment the new school brings to our town. I am really pleased that many families will now be able to choose to stay in Bungendore because we now have a local school.
I also look forward to seeing the associated investment in our community’s infrastructure including the much-needed upgrades to the primary school, a new pool that is more appropriate for the size and needs of our community, a new community centre and town library, as well as the new high school basketball courts and the primary school Oztag oval – both to be shared with the community.
The recent commitment to build a new nature playground and upgrade the netball courts at the primary school will be a welcome addition for our community’s younger children.

Thank you for all your hard work!

I am writing this submission to object to the proposed location of the new high school in Bungendore. I fully support building a high school in Bungendore but not in this location.

The proposed site would result in public land being enclosed, effectively and visibly restricting public access to areas previously accessible to all residents. The proposal represents loss of the town’s civic precinct. There is no proposal to replace, relocate or recreate this precinct. How do you replace the centre of a rural town? Why do we have to choose between our heritage park and a high school when there are other suitable locations available. The assertion that the site chosen is the most suitable is unsubstantiated. What other rural town has had to lose their park to gain a high school? None that I know of because they know the value of a central recreational area. The beauty of the park is that it’s a free open space.

The proposed high school site sits upon Bungendore Park. Bungendore Park was first gazetted in the late 19th century (approximately 1880) and has been the jewel of Bungendore ever since. Along with the two remaining churches, the police station and the post office, it is one of the few remaining links to that era for Bungendore. Further, it has been home to the Bungendore Tigers (our Rugby League team) since 1908.

It is acknowledged that Bungendore High School will actually scale up to 700 kids. That will be a massive increase on the 450 set out in the development application, which the Department of Planning is using to assess the project. It’s 55% more than the initial capacity, which is already struggling to fit onto a site which is already below Department of Education minimum standards. That means 55% more kids crammed into a diminished outdoor space.

That means 55% more parking required for teachers, students, parents and visitors. 55% more traffic conflicting with the preschool, the primary school, the Scout Hall and residents of Elmslea and Turallo Terrace. The pre-school has recently received funding and approval to provide learning space for an extra 58 children. The pre-school is located in Turallo Terrace and will therefore need more parking to accommodate this increase. Turallo Terrace is a residential area, not a public car park. Has a traffic study taken this into account? (The SEARS require them to assess impact of proposed neighbouring development.)

Public opinion has been ignored. The local Council were overwhelmingly elected due to their commitment to oppose the plan to build the high school in this location.

The current plans were made by people who have no knowledge of Bungendore or of how much we value our park. Surely it’s time to listen to public opinion and start again with a different location. The only reason that some people are accepting of the proposed location is that they are so desperate for a high school they have given no real consideration to the long term impact on the town.

The revised plans for Bungendore High School look great! It is clear to see from the amendments that the concerns raised from some in the community have clearly been addressed and where needed, adjustments have been made to the design. I fully support the Bungendore High School location and design! Lets get on now and build it!!!!

The new design looks good and hopefully the building can be constructed asap and the public school grounds rebuilt.