All arguments for blocking a proposed primary school and community centre at Flynn have now evaporated with revelations of a secret ACT Government decision to open a third primary school in the neighbouring Belconnen suburb of Charnwood.
“The secret decision for a third Charnwood primary school vindicates our view that Flynn Primary School was needlessly closed in 2006,” according to Flynn P&C Association President, Roger Nicoll.
“It is very clear from the figures quoted by the Government that Flynn school should not have closed, which is just as our research in 2006, and since then, showed,” Mr Nicoll said.
“The influx of school students is precisely what the Flynn community found in its suburb-wide surveys and as trends predicted.” “We pointed out a major mistake in the calculations back in 2006, but we were told that the numbers were right and that Flynn could not have a school because there were other schools within a kilometre,” Mr Nicoll said.
The Parents and Citizens are concerned that this secret school decision is the latest attempt to block a proposal to open a new school as part of the community centre at Flynn. The first proposal for a new school at Flynn was formally made in 2007 and a firm proposal for a school has been on the table ever since.
“The proposal to open a new school at Flynn has been systematically blocked since 2007 but all the facts now seem to support the case.”
“With school numbers swelling and local schools struggling to accommodate students or facing hefty costs for demountables or refurbishment, it makes even more sense to look at the proposal to include the school at Flynn. The Flynn centre has been purpose-designed as a school and community centre, is fully refurbished and largely empty at present.”
“The school would complement preschool and childcare activities already operating on the site. The proposed school would provide a financial viability and real services for the local community that so far have not eventuated from an Expressions of Interest process that commenced in 2011.”
The government has repeatedly committed to negotiating the Flynn community proposal since that was recommended in the 2009 School Closure Inquiry and the MindPath investigation of 2011, but so far it has blocked such negotiation.”
“The government now has a moral obligation to stop working against the Flynn community and consider the longstanding proposal for a community hub that meets the needs of the Flynn community. Based on overwhelming community support and the latest information, the P&C maintains that a school should be included as per the longstanding proposal.”
