New High School in Bungendore

Further to my earlier submission, I again object to the proposal to build the Bungendore High School on the currently proposed site. The suggested amendments would seem to be purely cosmetic and do not address the concerns of locals.
I believe the proposed permanent site is too small, even according to the Department’s own specs, it has not been future proofed past 2036 and it encroaches on publicly owned green space. We have already lost our community pool with no plans for another to replace it in the immediate future.
And why should children starting High School be expected to “temporarily” attend the previous playground of their Primary School covered in demountable classrooms? Demountables are notoriously freezing or stifling depending on the time of year. I wonder how many of the 2023 intake will complete their entire six years of secondary education in these demountable classrooms given the current inertia in actually building a fit for purpose, sate of the art High School on a properly considered site.
Bungendore children, and the town of Bungendore, deserve so much more than this undersized and poorly planned excuse for a “high school”. Please go back to the drawing board, abandon all the previous “planning”, find an appropriate site and provide the High School that children, yes even kids in the country, should expect in the 21st century.

I object to the proposed site for the high school as it will result in a significant loss of amenity for the town, including impacting on the oval, war memorial, existing swimming pool, train station, scout hall, and other surrounding services, and have a significant impact on traffic in the surrounding streets.

Closure of a street used to a significant extent will adversely impact surrounding streets, which coupled with increased traffic at peak times due to the proposed site of the high school will pose safety risks for the surrounding facilities including the pre-school, primary school, residences and other facilities. These safety risks will be significant for the children using the pre-school, primary school and high school. With the combined pre-school, primary school and high school capacities, there will be over 1,000 children being dropped off and collected from school each day - the local streets are not designed to safely manage this capacity, and there is a significant safety risk. This will only be further exacerbated by the continued growth in Bungendore's population, with a new development of several hundred houses already commenced, and further housing development plans in place.

There will be limited ability to have parking available.

The size of the proposed location is not sufficient, noting it is already smaller than the minimum required for other high schools, and does not have the ability to accommodate future growth for the school to meet future demand for the town and surrounding areas.

I believe the town deserves so much better, a site that is an adequate size, has the potential to accommodate future growth as required, and that does not detract from this existing amenity and historical nature of the town - this will all be irreversibly damaged by the proposed location for the high school.

The proposed site is not fit for purpose. Any proposed site and building of a high school should be properly planned, fit for purpose, and not negatively impact on existing community assets and roads.

I do not object to a high school being built in Bungendore, and recognise the need for a high school, but I do strongly object to the proposed location for the reasons stated above.

Further to my previous submission of a few months ago, nothing seems to have changed for the better for the residents of Bungendore with this perfect example of lack of in depth community consultation leading to poor planning.
Once again, I object to both the permanent and the temporary placement of the proposed high school for Bungendore. Our children deserve a state of the art high school – not the “fix” of demountable classrooms located in the grounds of the Primary School. Further proof of poor planning that it has come to this. Our children deserve a permanent High School that is large enough to be future proofed. I do wonder how many years these demountables will be all there is of the new high school. A previous politician’s promise that the high school would be open for the first term of 2023 has sadly come to fruition – if you think that demountable classrooms in the grounds of a primary school fulfil the definition of a High School.
My children attended the local Primary School before and during its expansion in the 1990s. Even then the demountable were freezing in winter and uncomfortably hot on summer – has the Department considered this?
As for the permanent High School plans, the town deserves to be able to retain its Commonwealth Gazetted green space within the heritage area of Bungendore. Construction appears to have moved westward further encroaching on the Park. The pool, built using donated funds from the community many years ago, is now closed with no local pool available with summer approaching. Other Community facilities have been removed and the appeal of the heritage area downgraded. And I feel for the residents of Turallo Terrace who will now live on the edge of a massive carpark. More poor planning.
The amended plan fails to address major community concerns. Cosmetic changes such as amended layout and design of school buildings, amended transport and parking arrangements, amended tree and landscaping schemes, amended waste collection arrangements do not deter from the fact that this down sized High School is not being planned for the right site. The site alone is even too small according to the Departments specifications. Another example of poor planning.
If the Project Director can defend the revised plan as he “felt in his heart” the Department is doing the right thing, then I counter this argument, as a local resident, that in my heart I believe the proposal to be developed on flawed arguments that have not taken the concerns of residents into consideration. It’s almost an insult for the Director to say he feels in his heart the plan is the right thing – so much for objective arguments put forward by locals who actually live in Bungendore.
The end result of all this poor planning is that the children of Bungendore are expected to attend a second rate High School while the town loses so much for this second rate High School. Bungendore needs a new High School – one that is worthy of the name “High School”.
A better site was proposed very early on. My question is – what happened to this?

My family and I are in full support of the high school. It is vital for the towns growth, to allow children quality education, especially now that Bungendore children have been locked out of ACT high schools.
As the town continues to grow, the opportunities on offer need to reflect that of a growing town. The high school will bring employment and education for years to come.
The location makes sense and having both schools in a central precinct will being greater educational outcomes to all students who attend.
The arguements about the ‘park’ are ridiculous and unfounded. The use of Mick Sherd Oval during school hours on school days is minimal at best during these times and the facilities will be well utilized by both the High School and Primary school students.

As a local all my life to bungendore I approve of the High school.

Looking forward to the new design completed asap for both schools

I support the Bungendore High School and look forward to seeing the updated design built in 2023 as I know it will be of benefit not just to the members of my family who live in Bungendore but it will also help other families and provide jobs and extra community facilities.
It is about time that local teenage children will be able to attend high school in town instead of having to travel to Queanbeyan and Canberra and it's great that that there will be opportunities to extend the learning opportunities for children who attend Bungendore Public School. I can name at least a dozen families I know who have left Bungendore because of the lack of a local high school. It will also make a big difference for Defence families who live in Bungendore.
I look forward to seeing all the associated investment into our community’s infrastructure that will come about because of the new high school and the upgrades to the primary school.
Bungendore's children and families have been waiting for a high school for many years. With the growth in the population of Bungendore, this high school should already be operating! I hope that this project gains planning approval as soon as possible to reduce further impact on the children of Bungendore.

I object to the location of the proposed high school in Bungendore. Bungendore residents do not have much green space for recreation and sports, building the high school on Bungendore’s park will be taking away our central sports and recreation area where many families frequent. The area is also of great significance due to the memorial location and I find it wrong to build a school around such a sacred monument. Locals are also losing a preschool and swimming pool. I have 2 children of school age however i still beleive this is the wrong location and will ruin the centre of our beautidul town. Our town centre will be over run with traffic causing unwanted noise, rubbish and congestion which will be irreversible,.changing our town forever. I beleive in progress and agree we need a High school but we shouldnt need to ruin the centte of town in the process. Many of us live in this country town because it is not another city suburb and we need to retain certain aspects of this town for its heritage and to atrract visitors. Building a high school in the middle of town on our only oval will ruin this lovely town and deprive local residents of their central recreation space. I sincerely urge you to consider the needs of all Bungendore residents and select a better site for the high school, with room for expansion and where local residents won't be disadvantaged. Thank you.

I support the Bungendore High School and look forward to seeing the updated design built in 2023 at the proposed central site in Bungendore.
As one of the local teenage children this directly affects, I think it's great that we will be able to go to high school here instead of having to travel to Queanbeyan and further. While I'll miss out because I'll be in Year 9 next year, I think the primary school students who will be going to high school next year will have a much better transition and enjoy a lot more opportunities. Many families will stop leaving Bungendore because we have a local school. Classmates of mine have left Bungendore because their families want them to be able to go to high school in the same town where they live and got sick of the wait.
I also look forward to seeing all the much-needed upgrades to the primary school, a new pool - the current one is way too small and cold, community centre and library as well as the new high school basketball courts which I look forward to using.
It's awesome that the primary school will be getting a new nature playground and an upgrade for the netball courts.
Our community's children and families have been waiting for a high school for many years. I really hoped that I would be able to go to it. Even though I miss out, I hope that the Council will now give their full cooperation to this project and planning approval will be given as soon as possible to reduce further impact on the primary school students.
The plans look great! Amazing!

I’m extremely pleased to see the project progressing in the current location. Having the high school next to the primary school and in the centre of town will be such a benefit to the kids of Bungendore and their families.
I’m disappointed by the delays, although I appreciate these have been added to due to Council’s amended stance, and I am keen to see the project progress ASAP!
The amendments to the external facade, landscaping, removal of bollards and fencing and adjustment to signage will all help the school fit with our town’s aesthetic. I’m happy with the adjusted parking and the pick-up/drop off zones and feel this will help to address any traffic concerns presented by a few residents on Turallo Terrace.
I can’t wait to see the first sod turned, and the completion of the school!

Bungendore has waited long enough for a high school. I do not believe that the bullying anti-high school location residents represent the true majority. They would complain no matter the location as they do not want to see the town progress. The Crown land was set aside for the whole community - & what better way to use it to help provide for the whole community, & the younger generation who will shape what our community will become. Most of those anti the site have personal vested interests - they are either neighbouring residents who don’t want their “view” changed, or they have ties to the supposed “alternative sites”, developers, or opposing political parties. They are having non-residents make submissions opposing & these should be discounted. They are making multiple submissions & bragging about it on social media. They have done nothing but perpetuate angst and divide the town. I support this project & location. Enough is enough - give the town an education precinct for our future generations & discredit those who oppose it, they are causing community disruption.

I object to Bungendore high school being built on the proposed location. The plan appears poorly considered at best and politically motivated and deceptive at worst. I feel the amendments have failed to address the concerns raised in my previous submission.

I object to the loss of central village community amenity and open space that is accessible to most in our community. To ask my elderly, disabled father to walk to Turallo Creek or to what will be left of the off leash area to enjoy his lunch is laughable and insulting.

I am yet to see any peer reviewed evidence that the co-location of a high school with a primary school provides any substantial benefit to either school community.

With regard to the Turallo Terrace car parking, I have significant concerns that there has been no safety assessment nor any discussion with the street’s residents about the proposed use of the street to provide car parking for the high school. These concerns are magnified if one also takes into account the proposed expansion of the preschool on the same street.

In my view, the overall assessment of the impact of increased traffic and parking needs in the area around the proposed school site has been devastatingly poor. Anyone looking at any high school in the region knows that whilst some students will arrive by school bus, there will be many dropped off by private cars and many young drivers that will be driving their own cars. This, coupled with a need for staff and visitor parking makes it appear to me that the plan is sorely under-developed.

It is blatantly clear from even a cursory assessment of the available data that the school will already be oversubscribed when it’s doors first open. It is already too small for the student pool in its proposed catchment. How devastating for our community that a school that has already cost so much is already unfit for purpose before it even opens its doors to welcome the first students. I wonder where the demountables will go over the next decade or two.

I feel there were multiple other proposed sites available for this school project. Ones which could have allowed for needed expansion as our community grows. I feel we could have had a wonderful, world class facility for students in our region. Instead we have an overpriced, cobbled-together, ill-conceived mess of a plan with undertones that seem to smack of political corruption and community deception.

I feel in my heart we are doing the wrong thing by putting a school on this site. Apparently that feeling in one’s heart is all you need to justify a decision. I utterly and completely object to a high school being built on the proposed location.

The changes made to the high school taken into consideration original objections and maintain the character of bungendore.

I am making this submission on various reasons listed below. I’m very pleased that Bungendore is to get a long awaited high school. My objections are
*. The location
No room for future expansion in a growing town

With so much open space in Bungendore it’s plan is to put it in our Main Street and our open spaces cramming it into our community buildings and pool area. There is no real plan on replacing the towns assets eg community centre, pool and council offices

Carparks for the proposed school are to be put into the local streets. The residents of these homes were not notified. The preschool has an extra 50 places with no parking now. It’s very unsafe for the local residents, the parents at drop off and pick up including the bus pick ups

The proposed road closure for our Main Street

Restricted access to the local oval

The cost of the purchases of community assets to place the school in this proposed area

The cost of putting a pop up high school on the only green space in an already space restricted primary school

Finally Bungendore deserves a well planned high school for its future with room to expand and be a central school for all rural surrounding towns

I object to the High School in Bungendore being built on the proposed site for many reasons, as outlined here.
- there are other more appropriate sites for this growing community and this proposal is quite simply, poor planning. This town deserves better.
- the impact of closing roads and building a high school here will limit future community growth - it is poor planning
- the demountables from day 1 are hugely impactful on the primary school children, many of whom are my nieces and nephews. I am considerably concerned about their welfare.

I implore you to consider alternative sites. There is no shame in getting this right for this community for all community members beyond 2023.

I would like to voice my objection to this project for the following reasons -
- The site is too small to accommodate students needs and future expansion which will be required, based on the rapid growth of the town.
- The partial road closure of Majara Street which is required to use the current site forces traffic along quiet residential streets and past the preschool, playground and into a busy intersection.
- The loss of a thriving community centre which currently houses maternal health checks, parents groups, after school care and many other important community activities. The are currently no solid plans to replace this elsewhere in town.
- The loss of the site for the future Abbeyfield development.
- The loss of beautiful open space, which is lacking in the town. This space is well used by spectators at sporting matches, travellers through town who stop and picnic at the gazebo and community members who enjoy walking on the walking track.
- The loss of an oval which is centrally located to town. The oval in Elmslea regularly floods, so Mick Sherd Oval is well used by families who wish to play football, fly kites and run around. Fitness classes and older children also regularly utilise this oval which will no longer be possible if this is to be primarily used by the school.
- The lack of parking on site for students and teachers. The proposed parking in front of, and opposite the preschool is extremely unsafe and parking should be contained within the school site rather than utilising the public road.
- The small size of the play area and agricultural area. These may be within the limits set by the Department of Education but in a town surrounded by open space we shouldn't be limiting our childrens future by being focussed on miminum sizes.
- The location of the school between the preschool and primary school.
- The disruption to the grid pattern of the town. If I wish to walk to the Scout hall or pre school I will have to walk an extra block then back again along a busy road due to the road closure.
Thank you for considering my objection.

I am objecting to the Bungendore High School being proposed for Majara st Bungendore for the following reasons;
- The partial closure of Majara st which will divert much more traffic through the centre of town.
- The small size of the allocated school site, with little to no room for future expansion, in a town that is growing rapidly in size.
- The lack of parking, in which there is already extremely limited parking for primary school pick up, with the train station car park already being used as an overflow.
- The proposed parking is not safe given the amount of traffic passing through and believe the parking should be contained within the high school premises, not a public road.
- The small size of the proposed agricultural block, in a country town that should have an agricultural plot that suits the nature of our community.
- The location of the agricultural block being located next to an off leash dog park.
- The closure of the towns sole community centre, with no actual commitment or timeline for a new centre.
- The loss of a public oval to be used at any time of the day.
Thanks for your consideration.

I have looked at the response to submissions and the amended designs and strongly support the project. I have been a long time resident of Bungendore and my family still lives there. I had to travel to Queanbeyan and then Canberra to high school, and I know the issues surrounding the long bus travel times and and how the Bungendore region children get split up after year 6 between around 12 different high schools. I know how long the people of Bungendore have been trying to get a high school there and how much worse it is now that the nearest ACT schools are no longer accessable to this area. The new school looks like a great facility for the children and the town. The designers have done their best to take into account community concerns and make it a great educational facility. I am tired of those people who have dreamt up a raft of excuses to delay this project on the basis of protecting a park against what? Against use by children! I'm tired of people saying that the majority of the community are against the project because the majority of SSDA submissions opposed it. Normally people who oppose a project make a submission whereas those who support it don't bother. In this case there was an orchestrated campaign to drum up responses including from as far away as New Zealand and to have multiple submissions from the same person. Further they claim that, at the last Council election, opposing Councillors were elected on that basis - but the Councillor who clearly supported the SSDA actually received the highest number of votes for her ticket in the Bungendore polling booths, so that is an indication of strong support for the project. And the Member for Monaro, who also strongly supports the project, received an overwhelming majority at the Bungendore polling booths in the recent State election - again an indication of strong local support for the high school to be built as planned. I can understand people who live nearby wanting to retain their amenity in relation to parking and traffic and noise etc, but I cannot understand those who just want to oppose the location and delay the project because it might suit a developer to have a school on their site or a political party to make political points. I believe that the designers have done a good job, hopefully the local Council will work with them now to get this school built and operating as soon as possible. Please, like me, open your eyes and see this as good planning and support the project.

I'm in support of the Bungendore High School.
It's a much needed high school as the town is growing and options to send kids to high school are very limited and strict - proof of address required to attend. I have two children who will be attending the high school - without it it makes it very hard for them to attend high school elsewhere.

as per my previous submission - this is this is BAD PLANNING. The Amendments solve nothing and the end result is totally without merit when the available options are considered.

There are NO conditions that can be added to improve the scenario re parking and traffic and school access to open space and to provide equivalent community facilities. If this is allowed to proceed, it will not only be a disaster for the Bungendore community at large, a triumph of short-term bureaucratic bullying by DoE (as shown by lack of any real community consultation) but it will also mark a low point in Dept of Planning abandonment of impartial assessment based on merit.