Election 2020: Gold Coast's Arundel State School faces loss of multiple classrooms, sports field in lease dispute
A Gold Coast school has been left wondering on the fate of multiple classrooms and a sports field as future planning rears its head as a major election issue.
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FUTURE planning of a Gold Coast school has surfaced as a major election issue due to a rental dispute on land housing several classrooms and a sports field.
Education Queensland had advised the department will not be renewing the lease on a section of land behind Arundel State School, which has been home to four demountable classrooms and grassed fields where children play sport.
A full city council meeting was told the department had rejected an offer to buy the land, which is owned by the council. A lease agreement, signed off in July, expires in 2025.
The Bulletin has obtained a 2019 letter in which Bonney MP Sam O’Connor told Education Minister Grace Grace the loss of the land would be “devastating” for the school community.
At the time he was advised Ms Grace was “confident” the department, the school and the council would continue to work together on keeping the land available for the campus, one of the largest in the city.
Mr O’Connor now says an accommodation crisis will be avoided if the LNP is elected to government in the October poll because it has pledged funding for new buildings.
“If elected this October, the LNP will deliver a regeneration of Arundel State School starting with building a new two-storey learning centre,” he said.
“It’s a major commitment of $5 million to get this built and deliver long overdue permanent facilities to one of the biggest and best schools on the Coast.
“Arundel State School has relied on demountable buildings for too long. Some of them aren’t even level so if you don’t hold on to your pencil it will roll down the desk.”
Mr O’Connor’s rival at the election, Labor’s Ash Borg, also urged the Government and council to reach agreement.
“I have had a discussion with (Division 7 councillor) Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden about the prospect of a more permanent arrangement,” Mr Borg said.
“Ensuring Arundel State School kids have proper grounds and facilities is an important matter to both of us and we had a thoughtful and mature discussion about the matter.
“Constructive dialogue between different levels of government benefits locals in our area and I look forward to the City of Gold Coast and the State Government having any future discussions.”
Councillors at a full council meeting backed a recommendation that council CEO Dale Dickson negotiate with the department about the future of the land parcel.
Cr Bayldon-Lumsden told the Bulletin: “It is a good thing that the lease is extended to 2025. That has taken some of the immediate pressure off.”
Cr Bayldon-Lumsden hoped the lead-up to the poll would bring commitments from all candidates on securing the land for the school.
On social media, he posted: “I would hope that all the parties undertake to work productively with council and commit to acquiring this land. Disappointingly, neither the school executive nor the council have been involved in the decision-making on this matter thus far.
“I have been in discussion with the school principal and the chair of the school board who are keen to retain this land for school use.”
EARLIER:
Gold Coast residents are “scared in their own homes” according to a passionate address in Parliament by one of the city’s youngest MPs.
Bonney LNP MP Sam O’Connor spoke on crime, light rail and the fate of the second M1 in a speech in August.
He said crime was a “huge issue” facing his community.
“People are scared in their own homes, and I have long been fighting for more police resources and tougher laws to back them up,” he said.
“I have sat with many people in tears of sadness and tears of anger at our broken justice system.
“There is 16-year-old Preston Potter’s family, distraught at having the man who ran him down while high on ice being given just a $500 fine.
“There is also the incredible Beasley family, who are channelling their grief into campaigning for cultural change and action against knife crime.”
The speech was likely Mr O’Connor’s last time addressing Parliament this term, with the 2020 State Election seeing him contested by Labor candidate Ash Borg in October.
On the second M1, he said: “I have advocated to build the second M1, to give hundreds of thousands of Gold Coasters another option instead of getting on a national highway in order to travel anywhere.
“I have raised issues with the road corridor so that people who have built their dream homes in The Surrounds and Arundel Springs are not forgotten when the plans are put together.”
He added he believed light rail was “the key” to managing city growth.
EARLIER:
LABOR will attempt again to win the marginal Gold Coast seat of Bonney after preselecting a candidate who has championed the rights of construction workers.
The Bulletin can reveal Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will today announce Ash Borg will stand in the Coast seat for the October State poll.
Bonney was a new seat for the 2017 poll which Labor had been confident of winning only to lose after a strong campaign by rookie LNP candidate Sam O’Connor.
Despite a swing to the ALP of 0.5 per cent, Mr O’Connor won with 51.7 per cent of vote. Labor’s Rowan Holzberger secured 48.3 per cent of the vote.
Labor campaign workers said Mr Borg was from Southport and had grown up on the Coast, his parents working at the then Jupiters casino.
“So he knows the importance of supporting jobs in the local tourism and hospitality sectors,” an ALP staffer said.
“Now with a young family of his own, Mr Borg knows first-hand what families in the Bonney electorate are going through during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Having previously been an advocate for construction workers, he now works as a senior legal and industrial Officer for one of Australia’s peak aviation organisations so he understands the importance of representing workers and their families in the community to secure better wages, conditions and safety at work — particularly in times like these. “
The Premier said Mr Borg had the experience and energy to be a strong voice for the Bonney electorate.
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“We need local champions like Ash to help deliver our COVID-19 economic recovery plan to support businesses and restore local jobs on the Gold Coast,” the Premier said.
“Queensland’s economic recovery plan is already bringing forward significant investment on the Gold Coast by fast tracking local infrastructure projects that keep Queenslanders connected, and working.”
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Mr Borg said the Government’s investment in the M1, along with the Coomera Connector, would keep Gold Coasters moving and “drive the local economy into top gear” by keeping Queenslanders in jobs.
“I will work alongside my northern Gold Coast community to reinvigorate our businesses and get local people back to work,” he said.
ALP State secretary Julie-Ann Campbell welcomed the announcement which could help booster Labor’s representation on the Coast at a critical time. Meaghan Scanlon is Labor’s only MP in Gaven.
“Through the global pandemic, the Palaszczuk Government has remained resilient and led Queenslanders on their path to economic recovery, while the LNP wanted to open the borders early putting the safety of every Queenslander at risk,” she said.
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“There is no greater risk to our economic recovery than Deb Frecklington and the LNPs constant cuts to Queensland jobs, hospitals and schools.”
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