Andrews Government to buy land on Melbourne’s fringe for 14 new schools
A WHOPPING $236 million land buy-up is set to clear the way for more than a dozen new schools in Melbourne’s growth suburbs, Premier Daniel Andrews announced today.
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PREMIER Daniel Andrews has announced a $236 million land grab to clear the way for more than a dozen new schools in Melbourne’s growth suburbs.
The government is positioned to buy land in Clyde North, Cranbourne West, Mickleham, Deanside, Rockbank, Cobblebank, Wollert, Wyndham Vale and Pakenham.
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A site in Seddon will also be acquired for a new campus as part of the Footscray Learning Precinct.
The latest school building announcement comes as Victoria prepares to welcome an extra 90,000 students by 2022.
Students numbers across the state surged past 970,000 this year, with about two-thirds enrolled in public schools.
Mr Andrews said Victoria needed to “stay ahead of the growth”.
“(The new school sites) are all about making sure we build the education state in form, but also beyond that, that we provide the best start for every student,” he said.
The government has not yet bought the land and will need to negotiate with current owners to seal the deal.
It would not detail exactly where in the growth suburbs it wanted to buy or the breakdown of how much each site is expected to cost.
Mr Andrews also refused to be drawn on whether money would be set aside in this year’s budget to begin work on the 14 new schools.
He said it typically took about two years to plan and build a new school.
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“The May budget will be a very strong budget for education — whether it be upgrading existing schools or building new ones,” Mr Andrews said.
“You’ve got to buy land first.”
A number of reports and analysis released over the past year have warned of a possible school shortage, particularly in growth corridors.
The Education Department claimed 50 new public schools were needed between 2017 and 2021, according to an Auditor-General’s report release last year.
Data crunched by the Good Education Group also found that Melbourne’s outer suburbs faced a high school crush with an “alarming” number of secondary college.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the government could have built 40 new schools and 40 new police stations in growth areas if it hadn’t spent $1 billion not building East West link.
He said the government did not have a plan to entice people away from Melbourne’s overcrowded suburbs.
FOURTEEN NEW SCHOOL SITES
• Clyde North Secondary School
• Clyde North Primary School
• Thoroughbred Primary School
• Cranbourne West Secondary and Special School
• Merrifield West Primary School
• Footscray Learning Precinct — Seddon Campus
• Grasslands Primary School
• Rockbank P6 Proposed New School
• Cobblebank Secondary School
• Wollert Central Primary School
• Wollert East Primary School
• Wollert East Secondary School
• Wollahra Primary School
• Pakenham Henry Road Secondary School
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