Beacon Hill High School site needed for public education

Dr Kaye, speaking as the historically significant  'Whitlam Block' was being torn down, said: "The closure and demolition of the school is a textbook case of short term thinking. This will leave the local community struggling for public education options  within the next seven years.

"The growth in the number of primary school aged student in the catchment area for this school  means that there will be a huge demand for secondary education by the time they reach high school.

"Allowing this facility to be destroyed will drive these students out of public education into private schools.

"The Beacon Hill facility could easily be used for specialist public education activities while it is being held in reserve for the inevitable growth in student numbers.

"The only real benefit here is to the developers who will  turn a massive profit on this site at the expense of the future of public education.

"It is enormously wasteful to destroy these buildings and sell off the site.

"Once sold, this site can never be recovered for public education. Without land and buildings, local children will be forced to travel greater distances to school. The demolition of the site wastes public money and resources.

"The closure process was badly botched, leaving open many questions about why successive NSW Education Ministers were committed to closing this school.

"Perhaps if it had been in a marginal seat, there would have been more concern for community opposition to the closure and more interest in genuine consultation," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455