New High School in Bungendore

I Strongly Object to this planned site for the Bungendore High School on the grounds that this site is not suitable. It is not big enough for the growth of the town, the parking issues have not been correctly addressed, a proper traffic study has not been conducted. The proposed bus drop-off area is currently fenced off due to lead contamination The cost of this project, at a reported 71 million dollars for 450 students, compared to Jerrabomberra at 54million for 550 students, no-one can explain the 17 million differences for less a school, especially when 17.4 million has already been spent on WHAT, glossy brochures from the DoE. The site chosen was NEVER chosen by community consultation. It was not the site that ticked 14 of the 15 boxes being the site that would have been much better. The site is taking our PARK, our green space, our meeting place, the hub of our town, and being taken by a group of politicians who do not live here or care about our town. Then there is the 'grave' that could possibly be an aboriginal grave. Older members of our community remember this grave being on the proposed grounds and I have attached the original GPR regards this area. This needs further ground penetration to, once and for all find out if there is in fact a body buried there. This is not 'local folk law' as has been suggested by John Barilaro in the past. If there is a body there whether it be Aboriginal or not, it needs to be looked into further.
I am not against a high school for Bungendore, but not in the centre of our town. The site Ashby is a far better site with room to grow. There are other sites also available, but the DoE do not want to even discuss these. The sports hub for one would be great, the infrastructure is already there now, playing fields, a pool is proposed, change rooms etc. The highs school could be perfect there as well. And please don't let people tell you it floods, the whole of Bungendore is prone to flooding, you just use more clay base to build it up, as they have already had to do at the sports hub anyway.
John Barilaro was the one that announced this site for the high school and that in itself should sound alarm bells.
In closing this is the wrong site for so many reasons and I strongly object to a high school being built on this site and will continue to do so.

I strongly support the submission. I live near the proposed school and have long been a resident of the area. I believe it will be a welcome addition to the town and will add to rather than detract from the amenity of the park. I like the amended design and look forward to its completion as soon as possible so the town can celebrate and stop the nastiness and division caused by a few very active and vocal dissenters who are primarily supported by developers and political interests. Please, for our children and our town , make a decision and get on with building this school.

This high school plan looks fantastic and it is great to see that teenage children can learn in the heart of their own community. I look forward to seeing all the associated community facilities e.g. upgrades to the primary school, new pool, community centre and library

I object to the site of Bungendore high school as it is inappropriate due closeness to the railway line, it is too small to effectively provide for the rapid future growth of projected population, it will cause traffic congestion to the centre of town, its facilities are limited and the agriculture plot is seperate from the school, the fencing around mick sherd oval restricts public use of park facilities and finally the impact and loss of public facilities eg. swimming pool, road access, abbey field development and impacts on war memorial, gathering site, scout hall, and child care centre. There are other sites which more clearly meet the criteria for a new high school in rural area which would allow expansion to meet the needs of a growing rural population. It seems that the department is ignoring these objections and is intent on shoehorning a school into an inappropriate site. I would like full disclosure on why this site was chosen after initial selection of another mor appropriate site for a rural high school. The rushed political decision to open a school at start of 2023 has had adverse impact on primary school due to siting and lack of full consultation on appropriate site selection.

Fully support this project. The overwhelming majority of Bungendore residents just want it built with no more delays.

Object to this proposal for the following reasons

1. The site is not suitable due to size and does not allow for future growth
2. The site proposed is on Crown Land which was set aside for the town to use not the Department of Education, This is not aligned to the Current NSW Government policy wanting to create green space in towns and cities
3. The School Building will be 2 stories high and does not link with the heritage of the surrounding area
4. The proposal has not provided suitable traffic management plans and includes the closure of a major road to achieve the high school,
5. No Consideration has been given to the traffic as proposed child care center with in 500 m of the high school that will add an additional 170 people this means that over 1200 people in area
6. The NSW Department did not consult with the community and did not provided clear way of objecting to this proposal until now.
7. The Deputy Premier has stated that he will use all of his pollical capital to achieve the High School on this site
8. QPRC will receive the money for this site when others were not consider or changed at the last minute
9. The site will take over the War Memorial and likely change the look and feel to the memorial
10. The proposal not been thought out and does not consider effects to the community
I have been a resident of Bungendore since 1991 and have lived in my home on Turallo Terrace since 1999, I am yet to see a traffic management plan and given the volume of traffic currently the new school and associated 'extended parking lot' which Turallo terrace will become my elderly father who lives with me will be at greater risk of injury from speeding cars and increased traffic.
Jan Andrews
9 Turallo Terrace
Bunbendore

The long-awaited amendments to this project can accurately be described as 'lipstick on a pig'. None of them address the primary shortcomings of the proposed high school and in some instances only make it worse for the local community.

A high school with a 450-student capacity is simply not going to be large enough to cope with the growing population in the local area. Data sourced from the Department of Education's own commissioned research shows that the school will be at capacity within five years of completion, if not sooner. Worse still, the selected site precludes any opportunity for expansion, bound as it is by a railway on one side, a flood-prone creek zone on another and the town center on the other two. Even the Department of Education's tried and tested solution of packing in demountable classrooms will not be an option in this case.

We are losing a sizable portion of our central park, our swimming pool and community center to allow an inadequate high school to be shoe-horned into a totally inappropriate site. The Department of Education expects that these community facilities will be made good by local council. Given that the swimming pool was originally a community initiative undertaken due to a lack of action from local government it is difficult to believe that any replacement facilities will be completed in the short-term, if at all.

The amended proposal also seeks to turn the upper verges of Turallo Terrace into a massive 98-capacity carpark, up from 40 in the original proposal. How on earth does this 'ensure consistency with the established rural village character of Bungendore'?

The estimated cost of delivering this high school has blown out to over 70 million dollars. By comparison the cost of another local school project now in progress, Jerrabomberra High School, is estimated to come in at less than half of this. How can the Bungendore High School project possibly be described as prudent and responsible expenditure of taxpayer money?

Shifting some buildings around, swapping the bus stop across the road, relocating a 'kiss and drop' zone and giving the facade a makeover will not address these shortcomings.

The NSW Department of Education has form when it comes to delivering schools that are not fit for purpose from the get-go. I cite Gledswood Hills, Jordan Springs, North Kellyville and Northbourne Public Schools as primary (and recent) examples. It beggars belief that, in the light of such egregious examples from the Greater Sydney area, the Department of Education is now attempting to apply the same flawed planning processes in a regional zone where there is no shortage of greenfield sites to locate a new school that will allow for expansion when necessary.

As a supposed 'State Significant Development' this project is being planned as anything but. Frankly, it is an embarrassment.

This project would be a wonderful asset in this area. It's very important to our extended family living in Bungendore, as they built there many years ago with the understanding that there would be a high school for their boys by the time they reached that age. I'm in full support of this project on their behalf.

Firstly, it would be near impossible for anyone who is not computer literate to navigate getting to put a submission on with the log in requirements and why that is even necessary is questionable. Data gathering is not part of a submission process as far as I was aware. Secondly, putting a high school in this location is just asking for a fatality. Thirdly, education outcomes are a priority for all and this project sacrifices an opportunity to ensure a suitable, future proofed educational facility just for a flawed election promise. We have one chance to get it right and this location falls very short of allowing expansion for the expansion of the town and best educational outcomes for the youth of tomorrow.

I fully support the development of a high school on the proposed site, however, would like to see a more considered architectural response to the local vernacular of the village. Whilst the proposed design provides the basic spatial requirements of a high school, it seemingly makes no attempt to address the scale and materiality of these new buildings sitting amongst the surrounding context of a small historic village. I worry that while the multi-storey approach is likely needed, it will be quite stark in it's surrounds and detract from the village community aspect that we all love - whilst providing the facilities we so desperately need.
In addition, the use of the primary school playground as a 'temporary' high school is not an appropriate response and demonstrates a government underdelivering on their promises. There are plenty of other sites nearby (including the off-leash park) that could have been used as an intermediary. Again though, temporary measures that are only an attempt to fullfill underdelivered goverment promises.

I would like to see some further engagement with the community around the form the high school will take and how actively the responses/submissions have been implented or considered.

This is a great design and location. I liked the original plan and I love the amended plans. We can see the school from our house and the new materials and structures proposed are really in keeping with the town. Can’t wait to see it built.

I support this project.

Support this much needed high school.

I fully support the site and design of the High School. I believe the site is a bonus also as it is centrally located and safer than if put out on a country highway. The location will allow children / teens to safely travel to school.
The project will also provide much needed upgrades to the primary school as well as provide additional facilities that the community will benefit from. I am happy with the amendments made to the plan. The additional parking is very well thought out.
I look forward to the completion of this very valuable community asset.

I support the high school development

I support this project.

I fully support this project. This is a long overdue requirement for the town of Bungendore and so desperately needed.

Any opportunity to improve access to education for our young people is worth supporting!

With such a growing area with so many young families, it's crazy not to provide basic education facilities for the community. The demand will only get stronger and developments expand, and if we want to retain and foster a diverse community, we need to provide schooling for our families.

The project as amended still fails to address the key problem - the location. The current site is just not big enough for a quality high school to cater to the growing Bungendore community and will not allow the school to grow as the population in the village and feeder areas increases.
The response to the submissions dishonestly attempts to gloss over the fact that of 312 public submissions received, 243 objected and 72 supported the project. The difficulty the community has had in trying to find out why the site was suddenly changed does not engender trust. So the community is justified in mistrusting the Department's promises that the current site is adequate to allow the school to meet future demand. My fear is that once the school becomes unable to accommodate demand it will either encroach on the Oval or refuse to enrol students who will be forced further afield.