The Department of Education has confirmed Wagga will get a new public school within three years.
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A department spokesman confirmed a timeframe for the school’s development but would not give away its location.
“The project to build a new primary school in the Wagga electorate is expected to start construction in 2019 and be complete in late 2020,” he said.
“The site selection process for the new school is currently underway.”
A council spokeswoman said that no development proposals had yet been received for the new school.
However, it is believed a block of land on Estella Road near Charles Sturt University has been selected for the development.
While neither the council nor the Department of Education confirmed Estella Road as the site, residents have long demanded a school for Estella.
Estella Progress Association president Graham Cotter said Estella was the only logical location for the new school.
“The northern suburbs – Estella, Gobbagombalin, Boorooma – are the fastest growing areas in Wagga, and that growth is predominately coming from young families who will need to enroll their children in schools,” Mr Cotter said.
“The two schools that currently service those suburbs are North Wagga Public and Wagga Public, and they are both either over capacity or close to capacity.
“Therefore, it only makes logical sense for any new school to go to that area.”
Councilor and property developer Kerry Pascoe said it was wrong for the Department of Education to withhold the school’s location from the public for this long.
“They should release the location so the general public can have their say, not just the bureaucrats,” he said.
“People need to know where the future development is going, and the community should be involved in the selection of the site for a future school.”
Cr Pascoe also said that the department’s timeframe was too generous.
“I wouldn’t have thought a school is that difficult to design and build, so I think two years is a bit of a stretch,” Cr Pascoe said.
“I just want to see a proper site for it with plenty of room around it for the kids to freely roam around – some of the schools we have in the city here just don’t have the environment outside the classroom for the students, so it shouldn't just be a concrete jungle.”
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