A unanimous decision by Tweed Shire Councillors last week to retain the proposed High School Site at Pottsville has been welcomed by residents.
“We greatly appreciate the Councillors supporting the Pottsville community on this issue,” Pottsville Community Association president Chris Cherry said.
“Councillors Milne, Bagnall, Longland and Armstrong all contacted the Pottsville Community Association to request the community’s position on this difficult issue and we are really grateful that all of the Councillors appreciate the value of investing in our children’s education.”
The site is part of the Seabreeze Estate and developer Metricon last year proposed to turn the long-earmarked land into residential zone for more than 150 additional dwellings. The amendment was approved by the previous council, however the plan was rejected by the newly elected councillors at their first meeting.
Mayor Barry Longland said instead, they requested the Education Department undertake an updated needs analysis for a high school, using the latest census figures.
He said the Education Department report came back recently saying high school enrolment demand for students from the Pottsville region had been “relatively stable in recent years and shows there is not enough demographic demand to require another government secondary school in the Tweed Coast LGA (local government area)”.
He said the report seemed to be “at odds” with what residents were reporting and so the councillors decided to “maintain the status quo” and retain the current site.
Mayor Longland said, under the amendment put forward by Cr Carolyn Byrne at last Thursday’s meeting, the land would be retained as a possible high school site until “2018 or until the Department of Education makes a firm decision”.
Pottsville Community Association High School Committee member Troy Potter said the decision to reject the proposed changes to the Seabreeze DCP was welcome news for those wishing to see a high school built in Pottsville.
“It is my opinion that the Statistics provided recently by the NSW DEC were blatantly misleading and the assumptions made were seriously flawed,” he said.
“Even the most cursory look at the student age population for the area from the 2011 Census data or the steady increases in local primary school enrolments will clearly see the need for a high school. It was a major concern of the community that, if the potential high school site was rezoned for residential use without an alternative site being earmarked, it would be one more excuse for the State Government to use against the case for a high school in the area. On a positive note, it was great to see that all of our councillors not only voted to reject the proposed changes to the DCP, but also to review educational infrastructure via the Planning Reform units work program over the next two to three years. Our newly elected Councillors have been true to their word to support the community in the pursuit of a high school in the area and deserve a big pat on the back from the community.The State Government and particularly the local National Party candidates need to start listening to the community and Tweed Local Council. For everyone that live in the area, there is an obvious need for a high school in Pottsville and it will be an issue for all political parties in the upcoming elections.”
