Milton’s Shoalhaven Anglican School site continues to divide community over future use

A South Coast community is outraged by plans to use the former Shoalhaven Anglican School site for a special needs school, despite local schools operating above capacity.

Parents‘ calls for action to address overcrowding issues in south coast schools are growing louder, as answers and action from the government fall silent.

The Ulladulla Area Schools Action Group wants to see another education facility opened to cater for the growing number of students in the southern Shoalhaven.

The former Shoalhaven Anglican School site on Croobyar Road in Milton was purchased by the government for $4.25 million in 2018 for educational use.

Parent Kevin Bartolo wants to know how the NSW Government intends on using a currently empty education facility in Milton. Picture: Emily Barton

Action group convener and parent Kevin Bartolo said they want the site to be used to “relieve overcrowding pressure” on Ulladulla High School.

“We want this to be used for what it was bought for, to relieve the pressure of the public school,” Mr Bartolo said.

“This is the only site we have that’s big enough to house mainstream schools.

“I do this for my daughter, I want her to have a good education. She might not reap benefits out of this by the time something does happen, but my grandkids might and the future generations of local families.”

Questions from the South Coast News to Education Minister Sarah Mitchell about plans for the site and to address overcrowding concerns, were directed to the Department of Education.

A department spokesperson said they were monitoring student population projections in the region.

“Currently there are sufficient teaching spaces in the Ulladulla Milton area to meet forecast demand,” they said.

“(The department will) ensure appropriate educational infrastructure is provided for the community.”

Plans for just 15 per cent of the Milton site to be made suitable for special needs students from Budawang School, which is also at capacity, have been approved.

Budawang caters for special needs students from Batemans Bay to Nowra, and its books are closed. By moving to Milton, 50 students will be able to attend, but with numbers already on the waiting list, it will be at capacity as soon as the keys are handed over.

“It hasn’t achieved anything for the kids that really need to get into that school, and also to relieve pressure on the mainstream schools,” Mr Bartolo said.

Artist impression of the courtyard at the new Budawang School. Picture: Supplied

There are still no plans for the remaining 85 per cent of the Crooybar Road facility.

“It will be preserved for educational use as required in the future,” the education department spokesperson said.

On the site sits a fully operational school, with a gymnasium, administration building, library, classrooms and commercial kitchen.

Deputy Leader of the Opposition and shadow minister for education Prue Car called on the government to tell the community their plan for the Milton site.

“There’s a lot of concern about the fact that the site has been purchased, and the government needs to use it,” she said.

“There’s obviously an overcrowding problem at Ulladulla and the community was led to believe that the purchasing of the site as part of a way to resolve that.”

The latest enrolment figures for the region had 681 students at Milton Public School, 735 at Ulladulla Primary School, and 1208 at Ulladulla High School.

The two primary schools were sitting at more than 30 per cent above capacity, while the high school remained just under its recommended student threshold.

“The overcrowding in Ulladulla is obviously not acceptable, and it is a problem everywhere in New South Wales,” Ms Car said.

“The government has not built enough classrooms for where people are moving and where families are living. We are seeing this in regional areas where people are moving out of Sydney because of affordability.”

Meanwhile, answers on what’s next for land on Garside Road in Mollymook, also owned by the education department, are unclear.

The department spokesperson said they were consulting with the Department of Planning Industry and Environment to “ascertain options for the future use of the site” in Mollymook.

Mr Bartolo said it would make sense to build a new special needs school on that site.

“Garside can handle, and would give Budawang space but that has been taken off the table for reasons we can’t understand,” he said.

Work to make a portion of the SAS site suitable for special needs students from Budawang School is expected to get underway this year.