The state government has ditched plans to build a second public school in a booming western Sydney suburb, despite already having spent $20 million on the project.
The former Coalition government announced plans to build a second public school in Westmead in 2018. But visions for the school regularly shifted at the hands of School Infrastructure NSW, and was referred to as a “problem site” at a recent Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry.
Locals had been promised a second public school since 2018. While the suburb boomed with new apartments, education infrastructure has failed to keep up.Credit: Steven Siewert
After questions from the Herald about an additional $953,000 for “Westmead school projects” in this year’s budget, the state government this week confirmed it had abandoned trying to find a location for the school.
Instead, it will spend that money upgrading and expanding existing primary schools at Westmead and nearby Rydalmere, Rydalmere East and Ermington West.
The government is also investigating sites for new high schools in Westmead and Rydalmere, said Acting Education Minister Courtney Houssos.
“The Minns Labor government is drawing a line under two grossly flawed proposals put forward by the former Liberal-National government that they announced without adequate planning or due diligence, with potentially disastrous results,” she said in a statement, describing the plans as “nothing more than a media announcement” with “no plan to ever deliver”.
“We know that there will be future population growth in these areas, and we are committed to building new schools to meet the long-term needs of local families with site selection work well under way.”
Numbers from this year’s budget show an estimated $20,485,000 has been spent on the project since its inception, a figure which includes some land acquisition.
An election promise with few details
A second primary school for Westmead was first announced in the 2018 budget, when Westmead Public was the state’s largest primary school, with 1565 students enrolled.
But details were scant, and remained so, with a location for the school never confirmed.
In 2022, then-premier Dominic Perrottet announced plans to build an “education campus” within the Westmead Health and Innovation District, including a 1000-student primary school and preschool and a 2200-student selective high school.
At one point, Westmead Public School was the most populous primary school in the state.Credit: Steven Siewert
But to fit the school in, the former government was considering demolishing apartment blocks for nurses working at nearby Westmead Hospital, with no apparent plans for alternative housing.
Earlier this year, a lengthy ICAC inquiry into the conduct of former School Infrastructure NSW head Anthony Manning revealed the proposed school was causing headaches within the government.
Martin Berry, a contractor and friend of Manning who was paid $3,007,272.11 by School Infrastructure NSW between 2018 and 2022, told the inquiry the school was an “urgent piece of work” because “it was an election commitment”.
“I think … discussions had been had with the minister’s office around compulsory acquiring people’s homes and acquiring a council parkland, and that was causing some discomfort in government, as compulsory acquisition tends to,” Berry said on June 10. “Mr Manning wanted me to review that work and identify other options so that there was a more palatable solution.”
Timeline of a schools planning failure
- 2018: New school for Westmead first mentioned in budget papers
- 2020: Budget papers categorise project as in “advance planning/assurance review” stage
- 2021: Budget papers show school as a “planning project funded for construction”
- 2022: Liberal government announces “education campus” at Westmead, considers building on housing for nurses
- 2023: Labor comes to office, allocates $5.7 million for expenditure on planning that financial year
- 2025: School is mentioned in ICAC inquiry as a “problem site” due to location and property acquisitions. Labor announces redirection of funding for upgrading and expansion of current school.
The former government was planning a similar campus-style precinct in Rydalmere.
However, Houssos said that site, formerly the old Macquarie Boys Technology High School, “was found to be unviable for even a high school alone, due to site and access constraints”. The state government is also seeking other locations for a new high school there.
More schools for more people
Despite the surge of enrolments in the late 2010s, last year Westmead Public was under its enrolment cap, with 761 students. The drop has been driven in part by a catchment change which shifted students living north of the train line to Bayanami Public School.
Along with spending on local schools, the government has begun acquiring land for a new high school in Westmead. It cannot reveal the location due to property valuations.
The clock is ticking for future investment, with significant population growth planned for Westmead. The suburb is the final stop on the new Metro West line, due to open in 2032, and the Parramatta Light Rail also terminates in the suburb.
A draft master plan for the part of Westmead within Cumberland City Council includes about 6600 new dwellings (16,500 new residents, assuming 2.5 residents per dwelling).
Cumberland Liberal councillor Michael Zaiter said they were expecting an answer from the state planning authority on the plan last December.
“We’ve been advised they’ve withheld finalising their decision because they’re considering increasing the density above what we proposed … If that’s the case, that’s going to enhance the … need for a new school in that area,” he said.
Cumberland Labor Mayor Ola Hamed said the council was concerned that, if planning and delivery did not proceed urgently, “critical infrastructure such as schools will lag population growth”.
“Now is the time for co-ordinated investment to support a liveable, sustainable community,” she said.
The Sydney Morning Herald has opened a bureau in the heart of Parramatta. Email parramatta@smh.com.au with news tips.
correction
An earlier version of this report said catchment changes meant students were shifted to Parramatta East Public School. This is incorrect. The catchment change shifted students to Bayanami Public School.