Concerns over children’s safety and overcrowding at a local primary school were at the heart of an attack on the state government by Labor leaders Chriss Minns and his deputy Prue Car earlier today.
At a media conference held near the school they were joined by local MP Anoulack Chanthivong and members of the school’s P&C [Parents and Citizens].
President of the Bardia P&C Amy Rankin, pictured above, told the media conference her son’s schooling career had coincided with the opening of Bardia Public School.
“Just recently, the population of the school has exploded exponentially, it’s gone from a small school of 300, it’s now busting at the seams at almost 1000 enrolments,’’ Ms Rankin said.
“We’re looking at potentially having to have demountable buildings on the sports field in the future. “One thing that is blindingly obvious around the area is the lack of traffic lights outside Bardia Public School, and there are children who are running dangerously across the road with no clear passage across the road to get to the school.
“Families are taking risks every single day and the traffic is growing exponentially as the student enrolments grow,’’ Ms Rankin said.
Anoulack Chanthivong, the Labor Member for Macquarie Fields, told the media he had lived in this area for almost 35 years and seen the explosion in development and population growth.
“Yet, I also see that our community never gets its fair share of resources, and the infrastructure just doesn’t keep up,’’ he said.
“Over the next few years there’ll be tens of thousands of people moving into the local area, but yet we’re still falling well short of the infrastructure that we need to ensure that our community lives a better life.’’
Mr Minns said families moved out to South Western Sydney on the promise of infrastructure and it’s not being provided by the NSW Government.
“We are now at a critical point in time,’’ he said.
“In 2016 Edmondson Park had a population of around 2,300 people, when it’s completed, you’ll have a population of over 20,000 people and there’s still no high school and there’s still no primary school for the suburb.
“So as much as the population is growing exponentially at a rapid pace, the infrastructure is not keeping pace with the people who live out here now, and it’s going nowhere near the numbers that are projected to move into this community in the coming decade.’’
Prue Car, who is also Labor’s education spokesperson, said the state budget was coming up in a matter of weeks.
“This community and the Opposition will be watching with interest what this government does in terms of committing to the new schools in new areas of Western Sydney that are desperately pleading with Dominic Perrottet for once to listen and build new schools,’’ Ms Car said.
