Petition attracts strong support for Murrumbateman school

BETWEEN 600-700 [latest update 936] people have signed a petition supporting the push for a school for Murrumbateman, to be presented to Goulburn MP Pru Goward this afternoon.

The petition is in response to the NSW Education Department’s decision to defer looking into the need for a local Murrumbateman school until 2026.

It found the $12 million needed to build a new school was not justified because its figures showed insufficient numbers at Yass schools, the possibility they might become unviable, and that there were no guarantees the Murrumbateman population would continue to grow.

However, those behind the petition dismissed the departmental report, saying, “It has been sloppily assembled and contains a number of errors” and that its conclusion contradicted the very data contained within it.

Ms Goward has since called on the Department to review its decision.

President of the Parents and Friends of Murrumbateman School Association Mike Reid told Scoop the Department’s needs analysis used outdated and inaccurate data.

It failed to recognise Yass schools were already at capacity and the feeder school (Berinba) was using demountables to cope.

It categorised Murrumbateman as a “greenfield” site (a start-up community) which would need 2000 new dwellings to met the criteria of building a new school, when in fact Murrumbateman was currently home to 3000 people with a school population of 530 (2011 Census data).

It didn’t take into account the 350 Murrumbateman students who currently commuted to Canberra schools, and the associated costs in transporting them there, as well as the cost to ACT taxpayers who were subsidising NSW placements.

Furthermore, the department was already supporting smaller schools in smaller centres where there was less demand. Gundaroo has a population of 400 with a school of 79 students; Sutton has a population of 229 with a school of 129 and is situated even closer to the ACT than Murrumbateman; and Bungendore has 2200 residents and 488 students at its public school.

Mr Reid said Murrumbateman continued to be one of the fastest growing regions in the state, and that even Yass Valley Council’s Planning director Chris Berry predicted the Murrumbateman population would double within the next 10-15 years and exceed Yass township, based on the number of developers interested in the area.

“So 180-200 students is enough for a good-sized school, and [the Department itself] is forecasting we’ll have more than 200 students by 2021, yet it’s still not going to do anything until at least 2026,” he said.

He said by their own calculations they needed to start building a school now to meet their 2021 prediction.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli has previously defended his department’s findings, with assurances they would continue to monitor growth in the Murrumbateman area to determine if circumstances change.

Ms Goward has invited the ACT Government into the discussion, saying it has effectively subsidised the equivalent of two or three schools just for NSW students.

The Association’s full response can be read below.

Download (PDF, 309KB)