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PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3
About Wyndham
The City of Wyndham, located on the western
edge of Melbourne, is one of the largest and
fastest growing municipalities in Australia.
Wyndham’s residential population is now over
270,000 in 2019 and is forecast to grow to
more than 500,000 by 2041.
Housing in Wyndham is 15% more affordable
than in Greater Melbourne and younger
generations dominate the Wyndham
population, with 58% of residents 35 years or
below.
More than half of Wyndham households are
families with children, and the majority of these
households have children under 15 years old.
Thirteen babies are born to Wyndham mothers
each day, equal to 4.1 primary school classes
each week.
Responses to the Auditor General’s Recommendations
Recommendation 4. Test the accuracy of its
provision planning forecasting over short-,
medium- and long-term projections to
understand its reliability over time (see
Section 3.2.1)
Wyndham has appreciated being part of
annual school-building pipeline planning
meetings run by Department of Education and
Training since 2017.
However, our view is that improvements could
be made to the forecasting process that would
provide a better starting point for collaborative
planning.
Inadequate benchmarks
Wyndham’s residential growth has deviated
from Precinct Structure Plans in key ways that
impact Department of Education and Training
(DET) forecasts:
o First, lot sizes are smaller, resulting in a
higher number of dwellings than expected.
o Second, new developments are attractive
for young families and first home buyers,
resulting in an average household size
that is substantially higher than in
established areas.
As a result, dwellings benchmarks are
currently inadequate to forecast the need for
schools in Wyndham.
Wyndham’s Forecast
Wyndham has developed a forecast of school
needs in the City, applying a benchmark of
one government primary school per 3,000
dwellings and one government secondary
school per 9,000 dwellings to current
population projections.
These benchmarks have been adopted by
Growth Area Councils to plan infrastructure
based on the 2008 Planning for Community
Infrastructure in Growth Areas report. This
report is available on the Victorian Planning
Authority web page Community Infrastructure
Planning.
Applying these benchmarks across Wyndham
City an additional 25 primary and 9 secondary
schools are needed between 2020 and 2041,
on top of schools already in the pipeline.
Planned but not yet funded schools partly
alleviate this demand: 17 primary schools and
5 secondary schools are planned in Precinct
Structure Plans but not yet funded, leaving a
shortfall of 12 schools until 2041 that are not
planned for, but needed.
PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3
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Proposed modelling improvements
The DET benchmarks are based on largely
established areas, and the demographics of
residents in growth areas differ substantially.
A model that considers household composition
in addition to dwelling numbers would more
accurately reflect school needs across
established and growth areas.
There are also issues with using ‘primary’ and
‘secondary’ benchmarks in areas such as
Point Cook where P-9 and senior secondary
schools are the norm rather than P-6 primary
schools and years 7-12 secondary schools.
A more accurate picture of school needs may
be drawn from:
1. The number of school-aged children
enrolled in the local area by year level.
2. The proportion of enrolments in
government schools by year level.
3. The average number of enrolments per
school by year level.
4. The number of existing schools/campuses
by year level.
The three elements above are then used as
follows:
- The combination of points 1 and 2 form a
benchmark for enrolment demand which
can be applied to the forecast number of
children in the area.
- Point 3 can then be applied to enrolment
demand by year level to determine the
number of schools needed per year level.
- Point 4 (supply by year level) can then be
compared with the above point to
determine the surplus (or deficit) number
of year level opportunities.
- The need for schools rather than year
levels is then based on the highest deficit
by year level for the relevant school types
(i.e. P-6 and 7-12, or P-9 and 10-12).
Frequency of modelling
Given the rapid growth in Wyndham and other
outer suburban areas, more frequent
adjustments would be beneficial for Wyndham
residents and for those in other Melbourne
growth areas.
Campaign for More Schools
As a result of historical under-provision of
schools and with a significant shortfall of
schools projected in Wyndham even under
current government plans for additional new
schools, Wyndham City has conducted a
public ‘schools4wyndham’ campaign to
advocate for the Victorian Government to meet
the school needs of residents. The campaign
website can be viewed at
www.schools4wyndham.org.au and the
Facebook page is at
facebook.com/schools4wyndham
Recommendation 5. Establish guidelines to
inform its decisions for managing changing
enrolments in established areas—considering
school locations, purchasing of land ahead of
when it is required, access issues for students,
and size of school land (see Section 3.2.2)
New sites required
As the populations of established Wyndham
suburbs Point Cook and Williams Landing
have continued to grow, Wyndham has
requested that DET conduct feasibility studies
to identify sites for new schools in these areas.
DET’s 2019 consultation with Wyndham
provided a forum for Council to communicate
this need to DET.
PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3
https://schools4wyndham.org.au/3+https://schools4wyndham.org.au/3+https://www.facebook.com/schools4wyndham/https://www.facebook.com/schools4wyndham/
Incomplete P-9 schools
The implementation of staged delivery of P-9
schools in established areas of Wyndham
could be improved. Doherty’s Creek P-9 in
Truganina and Saltwater P-9 in Point Cook
were both opened in 2019 as P-6 schools
following the completion of stage 1
infrastructure delivery. Stage 2 of these
schools should be completed as a matter of
urgency to meet the shortfall in years 7-9
places in those areas.
While Homestead Senior Secondary School is
opening in 2020 for Years 10-12, the nearest
school for Saltwater students leaving after
Grade 6 is Alamanda College K-9, which is
already above capacity having grown from 370
to 2500 students since it opened in 2013.
There is also a shortage of secondary places
in Truganina for Grade 6 graduates from
Doherty’s Creek.
Parents are having to find interim schools or
travel long distances for schooling due to
these shortfalls, or else add to existing school
overcrowding.
Earlier land purchases
The dispersed nature of residential
development in Wyndham combined with the
speed of growth necessitates earlier land
purchases especially in order to ensure that
land for future school sites will be available
when it is needed.
Wyndham is in an ideal position to advise/
collaborate with the DET to determine future
sites as our internal departments have
information on site readiness, developer
intentions and adjacent infrastructure.
Recommendation 6. Work with local councils
and other partners, particularly in growth
areas, to strategically plan and design multi-
use, shared and co-located facilities before
new schools are funded through state budgets
(see Section 3.4)
Working together
Wyndham has appreciated being part of
annual school-building pipeline planning
meetings run by DET since 2017.
Wyndham City supports the Victorian
Government’s vision of schools becoming
integrated hubs for community learning,
recreation and arts, and early childhood
education and care.
Since 2018, the DET has been implementing
kindergartens on two school sites in Wyndham
and Wyndham City Council supports the
continued delivery of kindergartens on-site or
next door to every new Victorian primary
school set to open from 2021.
While the Victorian Government recognises
the benefit of co-location, the planning and
delivery process and timelines for new
government schools currently locks local
government out of an effective partnership
role.
Master planning for a school site is not
normally conducted until the land has been
acquired or funding has been allocated.
This then creates tension as the desire to
construct the new school facility as quickly as
possible conflicts with the time required to
create an integrated facility in partnership with
local government.
Community infrastructure such as sport and
recreation, early years and learning facilities
cannot be effectively integrated on sites under
the current model.
PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3
This disconnect in the planning process will
have long-term negative consequences for
community access and use of these sites and
is a missed opportunity to deliver public value
outcomes.
To realise the local and on-going benefits of
locating schools within community hubs or
precincts, DET and Council should work
together to establish an appropriate model for
planning and delivering shared-facilities and
integrated sites.
Governance
As part of this, establishing a new approach to
governance would improve efficiency of
ongoing maintenance, amenity developments
and opportunities for community uses.
Consideration should be given to linkages
between school councils, clubs committees
and other relevant stakeholders in a new
governance model.
Integrated facilities
Allocating responsibility to a dedicated
individual in DET for the planning and delivery
of integrated and co-located infrastructure is
suggested.
Wyndham has requested that DET consider
the option to deliver the Holyoake Parade P-6
school in Manor Lakes and co-located family
centre as an integrated, shared-use facility.
The Holyoake Parade school is not yet funded
and this early collaborative planning example
is the first of its kind for Wyndham. An “under
one roofline” approach is the desired model for
Wyndham’s co-located school sites.
Early master planning between Wyndham
Council and DET (central and regional) as the
first stage of school development around
school and community precincts would
maximise integration opportunities with co-
located early years or community facilities.
Collaborative master planning
For collaborative master planning to be
effective, Victorian Government resources
need to be committed in advance of the state
budget allocating funds for land acquisition.
This will mitigate the risks of out of sequence
development by capitalising on shared facility
opportunities and ensuring the schools
relationship with adjacent active open space
and/or community facilities has a long-term
benefit – rather than planning in isolation.
More specifically, the Terms of Reference and
purpose of the new schools planning
committees need to be reviewed and
strengthened to enable meaningful and useful
partnership outcomes. The current committees
cover too many new school sites to allow for
meaningful feedback and engagement
between partners, and the timing of shared
information in planning misses the opportunity
for effective co-location.
We support a more localised model, which
includes Local Government
representation. Committees should
commence prior to design. This would also
support joint community consultation and
engagement on sites where co-located
infrastructure is planned.
PAEC - School Infrastructure Inquiry Submission no. 3