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Dear Mr Andrews

3/5/2017

6 Comments

 
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In an open letter to the Premier, Mayor Pamela Rothfield says the Bass Coast community is owed an explanation after Wonthaggi Secondary College was once again overlooked for funding.

  • Dear Premier Andrews,

Wonthaggi Education Precinct Funding

​On behalf of Council and the Bass Coast Shire community, I write to express our deepest disappointment that the new senior campus of Wonthaggi Secondary College (Stage 1 of the Wonthaggi Education Precinct) was not funded in the 2017-18 Victorian State Budget released yesterday.

To provide our context to you:
  • In the 2016/17 State Budget, funding was allocated for the planning and design of the new campus. This is now complete.
  • The Ministerial delegation that visited Bass Coast Shire on April 1 2016 heard first hand from our community leaders about our challenges in a range of areas, but most particularly education and health. The Ministers in attendance saw the substandard nature of the current senior campus of the secondary college. The Minister for Education assured our community that the Andrews Government was “absolutely listening” to Wonthaggi and acknowledged that the campus was constrained and had substandard facilities.
  • Over recent months Council and community groups have worked extremely hard, with the encouragement of the Victorian Government, to prepare a funding submission for a Wonthaggi Regional Highball Stadium to be located at the new Wonthaggi Secondary College. Council had also allocated $1.5 million towards this $6 million game changing facility in its draft 20170-18 budget.
  • Wonthaggi Secondary College, in conjunction with the Department of Education and Training and Bass Coast Shire Council has ensured that the $25 million project is shovel ready.

The provision of a quality education precinct in Wonthaggi remains a key priority of Council and our community. The school, community and Council have worked relentlessly over a decade to ensure that no stone remained unturned in order to achieve the vision.

Wonthaggi, as a designated regional centre identified in Plan Melbourne and the Gippsland Regional Growth Plan, needs quality education and health facilities in order to fulfil its true function. Educational attainment in Bass Coast is well below the Victorian average. Council is working tirelessly to ensure that our fast-growing shire offers our community the benefits of a true regional centre. We are currently planning, with support of the Victorian Planning Authority, to facilitate the doubling of our town. Secondary education facilities today are woefully inadequate and substandard. The time is now to start to undo decades of under investment by Government.

Education in Bass Coast has reached crisis status. Our students literally cannot fit into the current facilities and leisure facilities are woefully inadequate. Council and the community demand a genuine response to our confusion and dismay, and a real and measurable commitment in relation to how and when the Victorian Government will deliver our school and associated shared facilities.

I would value the opportunity to meet with yourself and the Minster for Education in order to hear your response firsthand. I can be contacted on (03) 5951 3393 or 0428 936 025, or at pamela.rothfield@basscoast.vic.gov.au

Yours sincerely
Cr Pamela Rothfield, Mayor


6 Comments
Mark Robertson
6/5/2017 02:09:17 pm

If the mayor manages a meeting with the premier, could he please be thanked for the $30 million of desal water - it will be useful for damping down the asbestos fibres swirling around the ancient corridors of Wonthaggi Secondary college - in an alternative universe it would have made more sense to spend those millions on a new school.........

Reply
Geoff Ellis
6/5/2017 04:23:46 pm

HEAR HEAR to the Mayor's message.

Well said and I hope that we can extract a solid commitment - maybe next (election) year.

Reply
Anne Heath Mennell link
6/5/2017 04:24:32 pm

The Age last Wednesday reported that the budget would fund nine new schools (only one in the east at Pakenham) and 108 schools would be upgraded. I can't imagine that there are 108 schools in Victoria in a worse condition than Wonthaggi. I look forward to hearing the Premier's response to this issue.

Reply
Catherine Watson
7/5/2017 11:16:12 am

Good point, Anne, but it's possibly a hopeful sign. The government wouldn't want to spent money on upgrading the current school if they are planning to replace it. I think next year (before the election) will be our year but in the meantime we must become noisy and annoying.

Reply
Barrie Stewart
6/5/2017 04:47:03 pm

I hope that they listen to you this time, they haven't before, but keep pushing Pam. Have you noticed that other than some expenditure on the rail system to the valley, NOTHING has been allocated anywhere South East of Melbourne with the exception of the Pakenham area. It's as if we don't exist or would it be that the Premier and his cohorts are all geographically challenged or were the relevant pages of their Mel Ways been removed. I know one party I won't support come election time. Just a clue Premier, it's just a very short drive from your white elephant (the desal plant) to the town centre

Reply
Frank W Schooneveldt
7/5/2017 10:42:58 am

I agree with Mayor Rothfield's comments, however l remind the people of Bass Coast that this is not an election year.
I have been looking at the State of Victoria's balance sheet that reveals cash and cash equivalents balance forecast for the 30th June 2017 of $7.2 billion and that is forecast to grow to $9.5 billion by 30th June 2021. Obviously the Victorian government does not have any money issues and could easily fund the Wonthaggi high school and other infrastructure projects if it wanted to.
This is a huge war chest that will be spent at the Government's choosing.
We, the people of Bass Coast need to shout a lot louder.
Cheers
Frank W Schooneveldt

Reply



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