Tallawong Primary: pleas for fast-track as surrounding Sydney schools reach capacity

There are desperate calls for a northwest Sydney School to be fast-tracked after an exhaustive 700-day wait for plans to be revealed.

It was a major election promise to blue-ribbon voters in The Hills — but more than 700 days since a school was earmarked for the Tallawong Station Precinct in Rouse Hill, the NSW Government is yet to even demolish houses still sitting abandoned on the proposed school site.

Fed up residents joined the NSW Opposition to call out the State Government’s lack of timeline and funding for the Tallawong Primary School, with Opposition Leader Jodi McKay questioning whether a school will be built for thousands of new residents flooding the growing community.

Opposition Leader Jodi McKay, The Ponds High School P and C president Roland de Pree, Blacktown State Labor MP Stephen Bali and Shadow Education spokeswoman Prue Car outside the proposed location of Tallawong Primary School in Rouse Hill.

“It says a lot when you still have two abandoned houses where a school is meant to be,” she told NewsLocal outside the proposed school’s site.

“We are surprised that we aren’t standing outside a new school, particularly given the population growth in The Hills and the way surrounding schools are at or over capacity.”

Ms McKay said there were as many as 4000 new residents expected to move into the area, and called on the Education Department to fast-track the development of the much-needed school.

“There is no timeline, no money in the budget and no real plan for this school.” she said.

“People want the very best for their kids and it is not being delivered in Sydney’s northwest.” 

Shadow Education spokeswoman Prue Car said it was clear the NSW Government didn’t want to spend money on essential infrastructure for western Sydney in a timely manner to meet population increases. 

”Unfortunately for residents, this is a pattern, hundreds of thousands of families move in and the infrastructure is not in place in time,” she said. 

The Ponds High School P and C president Roland de Pree, outside the proposed location of Tallawong Primary School in Rouse Hill.

The Ponds High School P and C president Roland de Pree said schools surrounding the Tallawong site were being “inundated” with massive student numbers, and demountables.” This is simply not sustainable, this area needs more schools to meet enrolment demands,” he said. 

While Blacktown state Labor MP Stephen Bali said residents shouldn’t be penalised for being some of the first to move into a new development. ”They were promised essential infrastructure that they just are not getting. 

An Education Infrastructure NSW spokeswoman confirmed the government committed to a primary school at Tallawong in 2019.

“After an exhaustive process of site investigations, a site was acquired for the new primary school in mid-2020,” the spokeswoman said.

“Work on the new primary is progressing with a Final Business Case approved last year and planning works underway.”

A detailed development application for the construction of the school is yet to be submitted by the department.

“The department sought approval to demolish existing structures on the site with lodgement of a development application with Blacktown Council,” she said.

“However, under the sites zoning, demolition is permissible through a Complying Development Certificate (CDC) and the DA was withdrawn.”

The lack of timeline in the plans for Tallawong comes as NewsLocal revealed a single school in Sydney’s northwest still has 44 demountable classrooms, despite a recent multimillion-dollar upgrade.

Eduction Department reports revealed 200 portable demountables are currently spread across 32 recently redeveloped NSW schools.

Documents handed over to Labor MLC Courtney Houssos by Education Minister Sarah Mitchell in the Upper House last week uncovered the number of demountables taking over school playground and even carparks.

The upgrade to Riverbank Public School was, according to School Infrastructure, “finished an operational” in January, however, the school in the northwest Sydney suburb of The Ponds has 44 demountables on site.

While at Cherrybrook Technology High School a 2016 project aimed at removing to remove demountables from the campus was announced, however, it now has 18 on-site.

Despite redevelopment at Oran Park Public School, the primary school still has 15 demountables on-site.

Riverbank Public school students Madeline Parsons, Tanissa Colusso, Tamina Colusso, Cameron Mitchell, Bailey Hyde and Tegan Hyde. (AAP Image/ Justin Sanson)

Opposition Education spokeswoman Prue Car said the schools hardest hit are located in areas of major growth approved and overseen by the government.

“The government hasn’t got an excuse, many of these are booming areas and it isn’t acceptable that schools upgraded are full of demountables meaning multimillion-dollar school upgrades don’t cater for the population,” she said.

“The government needs to properly assess how many students will need to be accounted for before creating a masterplanned redevelopment or new school.

“They get these figures drastically wrong regularly and then our students are burdened with demountables.”

Opposition Education spokeswoman Prue Car

The Education Minister said the government was in the process of removing five demountables from Oran Park Public School and six from Hurstville Public.

“There is more money going into public education in NSW than ever before” Ms Mitchell said.

“This government has delivered more new and upgraded schools than any other in history. Fifty schools last year, 42 the year before, 10 delivered already this year and more to come throughout 2021

“Families can see the investment going into public education through our new and upgraded schools, improved technology and professional development.”

New classrooms at Cherrybrook Technology High in Cherrybrook. (AAP Image / Angelo Velardo)