Wollongong City Council has once again nominated eight sites where West Dapto's new schools should go, but says the NSW Government is yet to commit to any new educational facilities in the area.
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This week, councillors voted to adopt a new Development Control Plan, updating guidelines for developers about open space, road widths, tree planting and other requirements.
Within hundreds of pages of the new plan, the council also pointed to six primary schools and two high schools which need to be built to cater to the fast-growing population.
Under the plan, the primary schools would be built at the new Darkes town centre (close to Kembla Grange), at Wongawilli, the Marshall Mount Town Centre (to be called Yallah Primary School), and two would be needed in the existing suburbs of Cleveland and Avondale.
The high schools would be located in the Bong Bong Town Centre (to be called Bong Bong High School) and the Darkes Road area.
Pointing out this information, based on previous work by the council and the NSW Department of Education, Labor councillor David Brown asked staff if they had received any update from the government about where they planned to place the schools.
"Not yet," urban release manager David Fitzgibbon told the meeting. "The six primary schools and two high schools that we've got indicative ...are historical potential locations. We continue to liaise and seek commitment beyond that, and an update, but we are yet to receive one from the state."
Speaking after the meeting, Cr Brown urged the government to make a commitment, as new schools would be vital for an extra population of up to 50,000 people.
"This is an ongoing issue, we're seeing families move in there and we have, for a number of years, said can you please tell us where you think those schools should go so we can build that into our planning," he said.
"We know there will need to be six or seven primary schools and two high schools, and it would really help if the state agency could tell us where they will go, so we can plan things like bike paths etc. To do that, we need to know the exact locations."
While it hasn't committed to build new schools, the Department of Education is working on an upgrade to the one existing primary school to "cater for current and projected growth in the area".
The project will add classrooms to the already crowded Dapto Public School, and is expected to be complete in 2021, the department says.
The upgrade will accommodate up to 875 students in permanent classrooms.
The school currently has an enrolment of 738 students.
Parents and teachers at Dapto Public School have raised concerns about the plan to increase numbers at the school, saying it will also make traffic in peak school times unbearable on the nearby narrow streets.
Residents are also concerned because the new building, which will accommodate 20 classrooms, will be three storeys and they believe it does not fit in with the character of the Horsley neighbourhood.
Other concerns include overcrowding of the school site, temporary construction noise and insufficient community consultation.