By Xavier Smerdon
A 14-YEAR-old boy from Wyndham has been charged by police for starting a fire at a derelict former school in Werribee last week that took more than 40 firefighters to extinguish.
Police closed nearby streets as fire ripped through the site of the former Glen Devon Primary School in Golden Avenue.
Operations Officer from the CFA’s Wyndham catchment, Trevor Roberts, told Star that asbestos in the ceiling had made it more difficult for them to tackle the blaze that started just before 10am last Thursday.
“Two thirds of the building has been completely gutted by the fire,” Mr Roberts said.
“The whole building will have to be demolished now.”
The school had become neglected after it was shut down over a year ago with squatters and vandals entering it on an almost daily basis, despite all the windows being boarded up.
Ben Pedder, who lives directly across from the school, said he could constantly see people breaking into the building.
“There is a few people that go in and out all the time,” Mr Pedder told Star.
“You can hear them breaking windows at night time and I think there are a bunch of mattresses and stuff in there.”
Wyndham’s Mayor John Menegazzo joined calls from the Member for Tarneit, Tim Pallas, for the State Government to finally take some action on the neglected former school.
“This is an incident that should never have been allowed to happen and the impact on surrounding residents and potential safety concerns are simply not good enough,” Mayor Menegazzo said.
“Urgent funds must now be committed by the State Government to ensure community education programs can operate from this site. We have long held fears that the future of the site could be questioned the longer it sat unsecured and idle, however continued inaction will not be tolerated.
“This council is seeking an urgent demolition and rebuild, or build a new facility at the Glen Devon Primary School site so that it can continue to provide vital education resources for this City.”
But a spokesperson for the Minister for Education, Martin Dixon, blamed Labor for the situation.
“Mr Pallas knows full well that it was his government that not only botched the merger of Glen Devon and Glen Orden primary schools, but also the sale of the land,” the spokesperson said.
“The coalition government is aware of the mess it has inherited and is working to fix the problem. As a result of lobbying by the member for Western Metropolitan Region, Andrew Elsbury, the Education Department, Wyndham Council and the Wyndham Community Education Centre are working together to try to find a solution to Labor’s mess that will benefit the community.”
Mr Elsbury said the State Government would continue to try and develop the site into something that will benefit the community.
